Artist bio

The Sundays made an immediate splash in the British pop scene with the release of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic in 1990. Though initially likened to Cocteau Twins or Everything But The Girl, the band resisted such labels, endearing audiences with the one-two kiss of Harriet Wheeler’s beautiful voice and David Gavurin’s Smiths-ian acoustic melodies.

Songs such as the jubilant, bouncing pop of “Hideous Towns” and the heart-melting hit “Here’s Where The Story Ends,” helped attract a sizeable following in the U.S. Much awaited follow-up Blind arrived in 1992 and did little to tinker with the recipe. “Love” was a U.S. hit, and a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses” wound up in a television commercial.

After successful tours in Europe and America, the Sundays virtually disappeared and little-to-no information was circulated about the group’s future, or lack thereof.

After a five-year absence that saw the Cranberries ride the band’s formula straight to the bank, the Sundays resurfaced in the summer of 1997 with Static And Silence. Static, marked by the haunting “Folk Song” and the absolutely sensational “Shy,” balanced the trademark pop sensibilities of the first two records with a mature narrative voice informed by years out of the spotlight (Wheeler and Gavurin had a child together during the long break and built a home studio, where Static was recorded).

A short U.S. tour that Fall drew sell-out crowds, but the band quickly faded into the background again upon its completion.

Albums by this artist

Static And Silence (1997)

Blind (1992)

Reading, Writing And Arithmetic (Recommended) (1990)

The Sundays

Blind

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» JONATHAN COHEN | SENIOR EDITOR

The Sundays Blind DGC, 1992 RiYL: Cocteau Twins, The Smiths, Slowdive, The Cranberries

Blind, the follow-up to the Sundays' 1990 breakthrough Reading, Writing And Arithmetic, is a little more uneven than its predecessor but by and large does little to tinker with the formula: Harriet Wheeler's enchanting voice topping David Gavurin's tasteful acoustic/electric (Brit)pop hybrids.

Some of the material here is virtually interchangable with songs from the previous record, but this is not a bad thing in any way. "Love," a single in the U.S., could be a musical and lyrical sequel to Reading's "Here's Where The Story Ends," (as well as a blueprint for the Cranberries' entire career) while "I Feel" and the gorgeous "Goodbye" make excellent use of the band's melodic gifts. "Medicine" is more or less a rewrite of "Joy," the last album's closing track.

Still, the songs are distinctive in subtle but interesting ways: the odd melodicism of "What Do You Think?," the way Wheeler saves the percussion-less "24 Hours" from near-nothingness, and the Lush-y dream pop detours in "Blood On My Hands." The band's rendering of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" is just OK -- performed in Sundays style, it sounds garden-variety.

Whereas Reading balanced its more serious moments with a certain element of playfulness, Blind offers less of a distinction. The tone is darker, amplified by Dave Anderson's fairly monochrome production (Gavurin and Wheeler co-produced). At times Wheeler's lyrics appear non-sequiturs. Her metaphors coexist tenuously: the whole love/God thing in "God Made Me" and again in "Love." No matter -- whatever Wheeler is singing about is purely secondary to her otherworldly voice. Her phrasing tends to be the emotional barometer, and it's up and down: carefree reminiscence ("More"), thinly-veiled yearnings ("On Earth") and sensuous nothings ("Life & Soul," "Medicine").

Blind stands a notch below Reading, Writing And Arithmetic on close inspection, but serves as a welcome second helping of the Sundays' catchy, intelligent pop.

JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"