Customer Reviews

Reading Writing & Arithmetic

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the effort to overcompensate for lack of talent and inspiration, a lot of bands overproduce their music until the chaos makes you dizzy just listening to it. Not so in the Sundays' sweet, serene "Reading, Writing and Arithmetic," one of the best albums of the 1990s.

Alt-pop doesn't get much better than that. Without sacrificing a catchiness that most bands would kill for, the Sundays sprinkle this debut with angst (the shimmering "Can't Be Sure"), laments (the pleasantly thoughtful "Here's Where the Story Ends"), and lonely contemplation (the steady, soft "You're Not The Only One I Know"). Despite these, "Reading. Writing And Arithmetic" retains a certain wistful, innocent hope.

"Reading, Writing And Arithmetic" has that dreamily haunted clarity that few albums do; the catchy "Here's Where The Story Ends" has a certain lamenting quality ("People I see, weary of me showing my good side"). It's the album that will leave you dreaming of cloudy days in London, Piccadilly Circus and cold grey British seashores.

Harriet Wheeler's voice suits the jangly musical backdrop she's set against. Her voice is a bit like a teenage girl's: high, clear, and heartfelt. David Gavurin's guitars shimmer and strum and occasionally seem to be jingling; the sound switches between acoustic guitars and smoother, colder electric guitars. And while the lyrics aren't the most complex, they evoke a mood as they are meant to. If this doesn't make you feel like sitting in a cafe and discussing the latest French art-flicks, nothing will.

Sweet and dreamy, "Reading, Writing and Arithmetic" is a soft, pure-sounding experience that helps redeem the label "pop." Melodious and highly memorable.

I remember hearing the song "Here is where the story ends" since it was released back in 1990.
I'm Mexican, and in that time I didn't speak any English (I was eight), I just remember how beautiful and sad the voice of that girl sounded to me.

As time went by, I became English teacher and listened to the song played in the radio.
Still I couldn't understand her singing, so I phoned the station and asked who the artist was. The answer: "The Sundays".
Weeks later I was spending my time in the record store, when I found a strange cover, the cover of this album and didn't hesitate in buying it.

I spent the whole day listening to "This is where the story ends", trying to find out what the lyrics say without success. Anyway, I loved the music. I loved the mood, a really sad mood, just a little depressing. Sad, yet lovely.

The entire week, my ears were full of this song until I gave up and read the lyrics. I was amazed to find how marvellous this song was.
I really didn't care a lot about the rest of the album, for I was only interested in the track number two.
Months later, I decided to take a chance on the album, and played it while commuting to work. To my surprise, the other songs were as interesting as my beloved one.
I played that night the album while I was on my bed trying to get some sleep, and as soon as I closed my eyes I found myself walking in a forest, watching the sun on the horizon, after a rainy afternoon somewhere in England.

Next day I woke up in love with that music. I wanted to get back to that forest, to remember old memories, to long for people I met in the past, wondering what happened to them.

Since then this album became my third favourite one, after "Ultra" by Depeche Mode and "Wunder Geschehn", by the German singer Nena.
Harriet's voice is so lovely, so sad, so haunting. The mixture of her vocals with the band's music makes perfection.

And yes, still I couldn't understand her singing.

I searched for info about them in the internet, and found biographies that mentioned "The Sundays" being a blend between "The Smiths" and "The Cocteau Twins". I agreed with "The Smiths" (though I really don't like them), especially in the song "I kicked a boy". But, who the hell are the Cocteaus? There's where my story began with the Cocteaus.

But that's another story.

I was glad to read that Harriet's singing is special, different.

God! Now I know why I didn't understand her way of singing!!

After repeated listenings I could understand maybe 75 % of the lyrics.
But now, is time to read them all.

I'll read them and sing aloud again.

In my imaginary melancholic forest, somewhere in my dreams, there... somewhere in England.

I was a college student in the summer of 1990 when I bought this on a whim after hearing "Here's Where the Story Ends" just once, when I stumbled onto the video at a friend's house while watching an MTV alternative music program. This CD is a fantastic, top-notch production that anyone who appreciates music can enjoy. Harriet's voice is heavenly, David's guitar work is masterful, and the rhythm section provides the ideal backing. (I am surprised that most of the reviewers overlook the song "I Won", which is one of my favorite tracks along with "Joy" and HWTSE.)

With this CD and their equally beautiful follow-up release "Blind" in 1992, the Sundays provided a glimpse of how 1990s music could have progressed -- had it not been for the promotion of the grunge scene beginning in autumn 1991, which then proceeded to drown out everything else before mutating into its present nihilistic rap-metal form. Sadly, the remainder of the decade would prove to be a total loss musically; it got so bad that I abandoned modern rock music for good around 1997 (around the time that "Static and Silence" was released), in favor of classical music. Even there I have to give the Sundays credit; their work comes across as a logical development of a great musical tradition. I hope there will be more coming soon.

I never tire of listening to this CD. I really don't think "Blind" or "Static and Silence" could quite match the quality of "Reading, Writing and Arithmetic".

Harriet's voice is well, one of those "that voice" descriptions. She could make polka music interesting. This CD gets it right, chiming guitars, laid back bass, complimentary drums, and did I mention "that voice"?

"Here's Where The Story Ends" is absolutely top notch. Probably the best Sundays song, and for that matter one of my favorite songs ever, all these years later. "I Kicked a Boy", "My Finest Hour" and "Skin and Bones" are great too.

I remember seeing them live back in the early 90s. They sounded just as wonderful on stage.

If you buy one Sundays CD, get this one. Better yet get them all.

This is a stunning debut that has done nothing but grow in influence since its release. Its simple guitar-driven approach matched with Harriet Wheeler's distinctively sweet voice were a great rebuttal to the overproduced garbage of late 80's glam metal, rap and pop (the same could be said of music now, perhaps more so). The album achieved some measure of buzz at the time, mostly due to the amazing singles "Here's Where the Story Ends" and "You're Not the Only One I Know". Both are true gems with catchy guitar hooks, smart lyrics and of course Harriet. The former however sounds conspicuously like The Smiths "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side". In fact, The Sundays sound a whole lot like The Smiths in general. The guitars are clearly Marr-inspired. The bass and drums are well played and willingly take a back seat to the guitar and dominating vocals much like Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce did. Harriet could well be Brit Pop's female answer to Morrissey with her literate lyrics and smooth & unique though somewhat overbearing voice. I love the way both vocalists sound but there are people who find both incredibly annoying over time since they are so unique and often overwhelm the music to such a complete extent.

Still I want to give this album its due. It is excellent and there are few if any weak tracks. Aside from those mentioned above, "I Won", "I Kicked a Boy" and "Joy" are standouts. You may only know the band from their cover of The Stones "Wild Horses" that was used in a commercial. You should check this out too. If you enjoy the simple honesty on display here you might also like Frente.

When I was an angst ridden, clumsy and shy teenager and hailed Morrissey as God, this album hardly ever left my CD player. It was the ultimate soundtrack to my unrequited schoolgirl crushes and dreams of being Somewhere Else (which in this case meant London). Years later, I am still haunted by Harriet Wheeler's unearthly beautiful vocals, the jangly, Johnny Marr-esque guitars and the wonderful melodies. My Finest Hour remains my favourite song due to its almost surreal beauty and catchiness, although there isn't one bad track on this one. Other favourites include Here's Where The Story Ends (I was devastated to find out that Sixpence None the Richer covered this one a few years ago. Wasn't slaughtering another impeccable pop song of the early 90's, The La's Here She Goes Again, enough?), I Kicked A Boy, You're Not the Only One I Know and You Can't Be Sure.

If you're into The Smiths, English culture, bittersweet lyrics and hauntingly beautiful vocals you can't go wrong with this one. Truly an essential album.

Beautiful lyrics and intelligent melodies are combined with excellent musicianship - vocal and instrumental - to create a uniquely unrivaled sound. This debut release is cited most frequently as the favorite album of many Sundays fans, although I highly recommend buying all three. I would, however, buy this one first and then buy the following albums in the succession in which they were released. If you're not overly-familiar with the Sundays, the tracks which will be most familiar on this cd are 'here's where the story ends' and 'you're not the only one I know'. My favorites aside from the aforementioned are 'can't be sure' and 'i kicked a boy'. However, the entire cd is a gem and one which stays in almost constant rotation on my cd player which is something of an anomaly (w/the noted exception of Radiohead).

I had the good fortune to see the Sundays after the release of Static & Silence in Dec. of '97. The live performance is the tell-tale sign of whether or not a band is truly talented or if their sound is merely a result of ingenious production. The Sundays left no doubt in my mind as to their musical ability. Each performer could easily be labeled a master of his/her craft. Don't miss them if you get the opportunity to see them!

i know i go against sundays-fan-general-agreement by saying this, but i still think this is a better album than blind. blind is good, and definitely better than static and silence, but this is simply the sine qua non album of its sort - glimmery, shimmery british pop that you can't get out of your head, it's so damn good.

others have described much more eloquently the magic of harriet's singing combined with dave's beautiful guitars. i can say this much: i've gone through three different copies of this album: 1) my first, a cutout tape purchased for $4 that spent the entire summer in my sony walkman while on family car trips and died a horrid death somewhere in the middle of utah; 2) a used CD that spent another summer played on repeat at camp and several years in my old car's CD player before giving up; and finally 3) a brand new copy that i'm keeping pristine, now that i've burned it to my computer and have it on my iPod. the only other album i've owned so many copies of is bjork's post (also a total winner). this album lives on and doesn't sound dated at all.

the album is opened perfectly by the eerie arc into "skin and bones", but my favorite song has to be "you're not the only one i know", for its beautiful contrast between the verse/chorus and the bridge, where the tone of the song makes a brilliant tonal shift from melancholy to soaring. "so they rode out west to the seaside/and they gladly decided to stay/but after two hours wandering outside/the sea air drove them away..." i suppose if you haven't heard the song it's hard to imagine what's so great about these lyrics. it's their combination with the music, and contrast with the rest of the lyrics... so great. if you don't have this album, get it now.

The first time that I heard this album I was 12 years old. That was 10 years ago, in my music teacher's classroom. He turned me onto the Sundays, when he introduced our class to the original vocal stylings of Harriet Wheeler. She is his sister-in-law, and he wanted our opinion of the newly released album. Of course at that age everyone was listening to Mariah Carey or Marky Mark, except one other person and myself. To this day I have "Reading...", "Blind", and "Static and Silence". Wheeler has a beautiful voice, and enticing lyrics that make the listener want to sing along. Any of these albums come highly recommended by me!

Popular music seems to need to fit in a compartment to gain any popularity. To my knowledge, The Sundays were never very popular. But that doesn't mean that they're nothing special, of course.

If you're looking for new music (who isn't?) and an album you can have a love affair with for a few months, buy ANY Sundays album. These are 3 of the most consistent albums any band has ever released.

Each one is a piece of work and similar to the next. Each has the same excellent production, simple instrumentation, great guitar work, arrangements and song writing, and of course, Harriet's voice/vocals. And if you're a musician, the talent level alone will have you savoring these cuts.

No, The Sundays are not a girl-power band, no they're not an indie band, no they're not a 90s band. Their albums are sophisticated and very listenable. I envy anyone about to lose their Sundays virginity.