The Sundays : C or D

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Both of us?

― Ally C (Ally C), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 16:24 (9 years ago) Permalink

I've enjoyed "Blind" a lot more over the years. Especially the Wild Horses cover. Very underrated album. Plus, it has my favorite Morrissey lyric not written by Morrissey:

"This is my life and it's all very well, but never never ever again...."

― kickitcricket, Tuesday, 30 March 2004 18:38 (9 years ago) Permalink

That's what I get for not signing my posts (all my posts from now on, on every thread) Chaka Khan.

reading, writing and arithmetic does seem out on its own - sonically, lyrically - and Blind has a closer relation in Static and Silence I think. rwa is such a chilly, bare-floored record for all its talk of woollen things.

I recall the mixed reception Blind received on its release from the UK inkies. MM, which seemed to have thrown its lot in with the resurgent US rock scene and Brit rave culture with a little more gusto than indie centrale NME, embraced Blind as a wilful anomaly, a wistful gem - there was ET's glowing LP review, Mueller gushing over "Medicine" on the radio and a Quebecois live review in strips of purple. Lamacq gave the album a desultory three, maybe four out of ten in the NME, sad that the band he'd championed had somehow lost the power to jangle.

I saw them that December in Wolverhampton. Winter recast in the Wulfrun Hall, icicles on the lighting rig.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 08:32 (9 years ago) Permalink

She had very nice hair IIRC.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 08:51 (9 years ago) Permalink

I find the continuing support for Harriet's hair, and the Sundays generally, I find somewhat bemusing.

"This is my life and it's all very well, but never never ever again...."

This is a bad line that illustrates their weakness. It's nothing like Morrissey, or not like good Morrissey anyway.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 09:12 (9 years ago) Permalink

they did a bbc sesh which i only found out about recently, as the version of 'my finest hour' was on bbc6. had different words and everything. it was probably done before the album for like kid jensen or whoever.

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 31 March 2004 09:43 (9 years ago) Permalink

Mark Goodier, prob. (Kid Jensen long gone).

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 09:51 (9 years ago) Permalink

Harriet Wheeler once sang happy birthday to me during a radio interview I did many years ago. I will take that with me. Don't know where, but it's coming along for the ride.

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 10:20 (9 years ago) Permalink

Weren't they the cover stars on the first NME of the 1990s, the issue after the Roses on Top of The World Christmas double edition? Fuck, that brings me back. Everything seemed so much more precious back then. The days when indie meant more than life or death! "Can't Be Sure" was one of the big buzz singles throughout 1989 in the inklies but I remember alright the mixed reception the album then got. It did sound a little flat however aside from the 2 or 3 classics.

― David Gunnip (David Gunnip), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 13:02 (9 years ago) Permalink

They had a little cake.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 13:23 (9 years ago) Permalink

I think RWA is just about perfect from top to bottom. I don't really listen to the other two that much.

I've been on vacation. Can someone please clue me in on what IIRC means?

― rainman (rainman), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 13:29 (9 years ago) Permalink

Classic.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 13:37 (9 years ago) Permalink

Sorry that's misleading. I think the Sundays are Classic.

IIRC means "if I remember correctly".

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 13:38 (9 years ago) Permalink

Harriet Wheeler once kissed me

how did we let this go by without more explanation?????

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 15:05 (9 years ago) Permalink

Weren't they the cover stars on the first NME of the 1990s?
Melody Maker.
and maybe NME as well, but MM yes.

― zebedee (zebedee), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 15:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

NME yes.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 15:12 (9 years ago) Permalink

N.'s facts are customarily correct. Yet it's a fact that in MM the Sundays LED THE CHARGE INTO TOMORROW'S WHIRL. Do you people remember nothing?

I tried to post to this thread yesterday and things went wrong. So now, again, I will say, perhaps dully:

Careminted phrases pay the rent, and Jones delivers.

That sentence was far better the first time I sent it.

I *think* it was 'careminted'. If you have any better ideas, post them... below.

― the bellefox, Thursday, 1 April 2004 17:16 (9 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

I ended up digging out "Reading, Writing..." yesterday, because it was driving me crazy trying to figure out exactly what GURL the bloke from Delays sounds like. And Harriet Wheeler would be the answer to that question.

What a beautiful, poignant, delicious album. It has so many elements that have irritated me senseless in other bands (Cranberries, "Torn", Sixpence) but somehow it's all just charming and perfect and bicycles and cardigans and a dress, dress, dress that I've been sick on.

― People love Gravity and Evolution! (kate), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 08:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

it's psychedelic!

― pete b. (pete b.), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 08:43 (8 years ago) Permalink

But it isn't psychedelic. The Smiths are perhaps more psychedelic cause at least they had that tremolo. It's all about the jangle, that the jangle occasionally dares to be dissonant instead of just mindlessly pleasant.

― People love Gravity and Evolution! (kate), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 08:47 (8 years ago) Permalink

i'm mostly joking. it's just that i was quite surprised when i first heard the album (not long ago) because i was expecting, like you say, a pleasant jangle, and a sort of dull monochrome sonic palette. the dissonance (in the vocals as well as guitars?) was quite jarring, and i think it's this jarring sound that makes the record sound very vivid, very colourful to me. i remember on another thread someone comparing the sundays to boards of canada and i think there is a kind of homespun, dancing-in-the-meadows, very british trippiness to both of them.

― pete b. (pete b.), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 09:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

Boards of Canada + The Sundays = ?

― charltonlido (gareth), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 09:15 (8 years ago) Permalink

'dress, dress, dress that I've been sick on' - 'sitting on', surely?

― bham, Wednesday, 23 June 2004 11:15 (8 years ago) Permalink

No! Don't ruin the song for me. I've always believe that it was "sick on". Please don't tell me it's not, it will destroy it for me!

― People love Gravity and Evolution! (kate), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 11:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

FWIW I've also always heard it as "sick on"!

― Hanna (Hanna), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 11:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

That's the beauty of the Sundays, that line sums it all up for me. The juxtaposition of "In a cardigan..." (twee as fuck) "...and I dress that I've been sick on" (throwing up from booze or worse, not very twee at all) and still you love her for it.

― People love Gravity and Evolution! (kate), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 11:23 (8 years ago) Permalink

the Bic Runga track that radcliffe keeps playing reminds me, somehow, of the Sundays.

― koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 11:23 (8 years ago) Permalink

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/sundays/133613.html says 'Sick On'

― koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 11:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

Phew!

― People love Gravity and Evolution! (kate), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 11:27 (8 years ago) Permalink

This lyrics page says "sick on", phew!
http://www.huan.com/sundays/sound/reading/

I also love the lyrics for "I kicked a boy", kind of the same violent un-twee-ness, sung in Wheeler's wonderfully girlish voice that has some sort of hidden madness to it deep down somewhere.

Oh x-post! :-)

― Hanna (Hanna), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 11:30 (8 years ago) Permalink

Harriet is one of my favourite lyricists ever.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 12:18 (8 years ago) Permalink

Doesn't David write the words?

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 12:23 (8 years ago) Permalink

Argh no please don't say that this is one of my few "they really mean it" illusions!

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 12:24 (8 years ago) Permalink

"Words and music by Gauvin/Wheeler" - doesn't actually say who does what.

I assume that Gauvin has never worn a dress, so it's probably safe to assume that particular lyric is Wheeler's. ;-)

― People love Gravity and Evolution! (kate), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 12:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

When I met them back in 92 or 93, I had a query about a particular lyric from the first album and it was certainly David who had written it.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 12:27 (8 years ago) Permalink

(btw that lyric referring to a dress also says "I'm a better man than others by far")

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 12:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

I always thought that was a cute gender bending moment/feminist statement.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 12:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

It took me a while before I realized that she was singing "hideous towns make me throw up" (in keeping with the "sick on" vein).

I heard "Here's Where the Story Ends" in a grocery store the other day, making my sandwich-purchasing experience just perfect.

― Ernest P. (ernestp), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 12:46 (8 years ago) Permalink

*reads upthread and is startled* What the -- I never contributed? Not even at the start? I must be sick.

A particular thought of mine. And they were fantastic live the one time I saw them.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 13:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

But *does* Delays' vocalist really sound like HW? I'm not sure he does, though I like their LP a lot.

― the bellefox, Wednesday, 23 June 2004 14:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

I don't think he does either. I certainly did think he was in fact a female singer when I first heard them, but Ms. Wheeler didn't spring to mind.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 15:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

"On" and "Joy" - play them side by side!

― People love Gravity and Evolution! (kate), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 15:38 (8 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Can I partially retract my comment on S+S of 2 years ago (!) upthread? I was listening to it again on my good stereo last night - with the volume set very low, but with the 'SBS' bass booster on the CD player accidentally switched on - and it sounded awesome. There's so much going on in the arrangements that I hadn't even noticed before.

― Jeff W (zebedee), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 15:04 (8 years ago) Permalink

Static and Silence is indeed underrated. i actually think Blind is my favorite.

― ryan (ryan), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 15:36 (8 years ago) Permalink

Every time I played Blind I liked it a little more, despite it's obvious inferiority to the first album. I'm more likely to pull out Blind, now. Didn't even try Static & Silence. Probably should have.

― Bimble (bimble), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 16:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yep, 'Blind' takes a very long time, but there are good songs on it, if a little less immediate.

Definitely try S+S, it's gorgeous, and quite subtle.

― derrick (derrick), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 16:23 (8 years ago) Permalink

AlexinNYC: Honestly speaking, I thought the Sundays were alright, but....they're also to blame for the truly wretched Cranberries.
Nicole: I think only Satan is to blame for the Cranberries. Surely that can be the only explanation for their existence.
I thought the first Cranberries record actually had potential. Then some nimrod compared Delores O'Riordan to Sinéad O'Connor, and Delores began imitating (badly) all the weird, erratic qualities of O'Connor without imitating any of her charms. The end result: a potentially good band turned into a bad indie rock band front by a squeaky headcase who sings like shes got the hiccups.
Zom-bih! Z'o'o'o'o'm-bih! Z'o'o'o'o'm-bih!
Argh.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 16:36 (8 years ago) Permalink

I actually was present at the first Cranberries gig (they were opening for Moose). They were obviously nervous as hell, but I liked them enough to buy their record. They were an okay, harmless, pretty inoffensive band for a little while there and then something horrible happened. Now if I'm in the grocery store and hear "have to let it linger..." aargh! blech!

― Bimble (bimble), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 16:58 (8 years ago) Permalink

Bah. The first Cranberries record maybe had a couple good songs (though I personally think "Dreams" was the only decent thing on it), but the underlying Delores-sings-like-a-freak stuff was already there.

It was around the time she foolishly decided she could also play the guitar that I decided I wanted to see someone kick her teeth down her throat.

― martin m. (mushrush), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 17:02 (8 years ago) Permalink

xpost

― martin m. (mushrush), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 17:02 (8 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 180 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Always makes me think of Buffy's prom

― Tim F, Tuesday, 29 January 2013 21:08 (3 months ago) Permalink

Glad pop culture never ruined this song for me. I still think of just listening to it in my room and pining for Harriet.

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 29 January 2013 21:09 (3 months ago) Permalink

ditto

― Cunga, Tuesday, 29 January 2013 21:23 (3 months ago) Permalink

it breaks my heart

― surm, Tuesday, 29 January 2013 21:27 (3 months ago) Permalink

Where did they go?

― Mark G, Tuesday, 29 January 2013 21:44 (3 months ago) Permalink

READING, WRITING & ARITHMETIC is one of my favorite albums of all time. Equivalent in quality, IMO, to The Smiths' or The Stone Roses' debut LPs.

― Tyler Burns (burns46824@yahoo.com), Tuesday, 29 January 2013 21:51 (3 months ago) Permalink

mmeeeeee too

― surm, Tuesday, 29 January 2013 21:52 (3 months ago) Permalink

Equivalent in quality, IMO, to The Smiths' or The Stone Roses' debut LPs.

I am offended on behalf of The Sundays.

― Tim F, Tuesday, 29 January 2013 21:52 (3 months ago) Permalink

o SNAP!

― surm, Tuesday, 29 January 2013 21:53 (3 months ago) Permalink

Correct, though, that this is one of the finest albums.

― Tim F, Tuesday, 29 January 2013 21:59 (3 months ago) Permalink

Blind gets a lot of stick but imo Goodbye is the best thing they ever did. It has serious bite, none of the whimsy of the debut that doesn't really appeal, and the multiple guitars at the end absolutely slay me.

― ledge, Thursday, 31 January 2013 16:18 (3 months ago) Permalink

I love them so much that I even think Static & Silence is great, adult contempo synth horns and all.

― The Apple Dumpling Gangbang (Old Lunch), Thursday, 31 January 2013 16:22 (3 months ago) Permalink

agree that "goodbye" is an all-time great song! "those stories were a good read... they were dumb as well" is undeniably classic.

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Thursday, 31 January 2013 16:41 (3 months ago) Permalink

I've listened to RW&A a few times recently, influenced by the fact that it was released 23 years ago this month. 23 years. That's a lot of memories, but every time I listen I still remember listening to it when it first came out; it was my getting ready to go out music, of all things. And, as dear old Bimble wrote in this thread: "I'm 18 years old again when I hear this music.", but it sparkles with the same quiet power even now, and Harriet's voice is pretty, but never drippy or girlish - there's a steeliness to it, and, although her lyrics can be somewhat impressionistic, they also contain lines that are straightforward, brusque or barbed. I do love her phrasing, though. This go around I'm being particularly haunted by "Joy", and how she sings the line "Well you saw him/and you can hardly know", which gives me shivers.

― DavidM, Thursday, 31 January 2013 19:13 (3 months ago) Permalink

― DavidM, Thursday, 31 January 2013 19:18 (3 months ago) Permalink

I don't anticipate them ever falling out of my all-time top five artists.

― The Apple Dumpling Gangbang (Old Lunch), Thursday, 31 January 2013 20:38 (3 months ago) Permalink

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