Product Description

The Sundays emerged at the end of the '80s, with their demeanor and acoustic pop at odds with the house explosion and baggy phenomenon of the time. Despite this, READING, WRITING & ARITHMETIC is as compelling as anything to come out of Manchester or an 808 drum machine. Identified as a female-led version of the Smiths, such comparisons were borne out by thedynamics of the Sundays' central duo and the quality of this debut release.
David Gavurin's guitar-playing undoubtedly evokes the unpretentious expression of Johnny Marr, whether gently chiming over "Can't Be Sure", gaily strumming for the coda of "My Finest Hour", or whipping up a racket on "A Certain Someone". Harriet Wheeler's voice is from another world entirely: soaring, pure, acrobatic, doleful, and with a penchant for the self-possessed babbling of Liz Fraser. Where intelligible, the lyrics take Morrissey's conversational style and predilection for colloquialisms to the extreme, delivered from the perspective of a melancholic girl wracked byself-consciousness and pity. Each of the 10 tracks boasts an effortless sense of melody and depth of emotion that, together, belittle any attempt to offer praise. READING, WRITING& ARITHMETIC is simply perfect.

Track Listing

1. Skin And Bones
2. Here's Where The Story Ends
3. Can't Be Sure
4. I Won
5. Hideous Towns
6. You're Not The Only One I Know
7. Certain Someone
8. I Kicked A Boy
9. My Finest Hour
10. Joy

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3347 in Music
• Released on: 1996-05-13
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Like the album's title, this music is about the basics. This seminal release from 1990 rerouted pop music for several years, and for the better. This simple guitar/bass/drum/vocal affair cut like a searchlight through the fog of tortuously overproduced music of the time, as The Sundays proved that more is often merely more. Harriet Wheeler's lilting, swooningly sweet voice is clearly the strong driving factor behind this debut's appeal, fore-grounded through spare arrangements and an almost timid rhythm section, though the timbre of Wheeler's voice is perfectly matched to David Gavurin's terrific 12-string guitar. Taken as a whole, the album bears repeated listening, even though some of the songs tend to blur together. The hit single "Here's Where the Story Ends" is rivalled by, if not equal to, "You're Not the Only One I Know", "I Kicked a Boy", and "Joy". --Alan E. Rapp

From Amazon.com
Like the album's title, this music is about the basics. This seminal release from 1990 rerouted pop music for several years, and for the better. This simple guitar/bass/drum/vocal affair cut like a searchlight through the fog of tortuously overproduced music of the time, as The Sundays proved that more is often merely more. Harriet Wheeler's lilting, swooningly sweet voice is clearly the strong driving factor behind this debut's appeal, fore-grounded through spare arrangements and an almost timid rhythm section, though the timbre of Wheeler's voice is perfectly matched to David Gavurin's terrific 12-string guitar. Taken as a whole, the album bears repeated listening, even though some of the songs tend to blur together. The hit single "Here's Where the Story Ends" is rivaled by, if not equal to, "You're Not the Only One I Know," "I Kicked a Boy," and "Joy." --Alan E. Rapp

Customer Reviews

stunning intelligent tuneful pop
first heard the sundays on glr (london indie radio) and was moved so much I rang up the station desperate to find out who was making such beguiling music, went straight out and bought this album on rough trade for £14.99 (no under a tenner cd's in them days) and still got it still listening to it, such a great album so difficult even impossible for them to follow it up. Harriet's voice so lilting and persuasive, daves guitar just hits those places perfectly, you need to hear it.

Educational brilliance.
Its late at night and alcohol has dimmed my senses. I swagger and fall. Harriot Wheeler tells me I feel fine. And I do. In the early morning listenning to this everything makes sense, there is desire, melancholy and beauty.

The vocals sweep you along, subtle changes in tone add to the complex mix of soft rhytms and integrate guitar. The songs make me float but there is a real grittiness to the reality of the songs.

I have listened to this album continually since it came out. It has carried me through everything and out through to the otherside. It is one of the most beautiful records I have ever listened to.

Still amazing after all these years
I first heard the Sundays at a party many years ago, bought this album on vynal the next day, but , like many of my collection, has got lost on the way. Recently got it again, and like the other revieweer, this is one of my fave albums of all time. Smooth melodies, a lush voice, lyrics about everyday matters together create a wonderful experience. This is not an album you will play once or twice, but something you will always return to for the rest of your life!