Reading, Writing and Arithmetic

Tracks:

Skin & Bones
Here's Where The Story Ends
Can't Be Sure
I Won
Hideous Towns
You're Not The Only One I Know
A Certain Someone
I Kicked A Boy
My Finest Hour
Joy

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:

Here's Where The Story Ends.......2007-07-18

This was one of those songs rarely played but very impactful. I remember that blue video (Literally shot with a blue filter) and the way the song made me feel. I'm happy to have it now.

I like my Sundays with a cherry on top........2007-01-03

Let's forget the lame, punned review title for a moment. I first learned about The Sundays through my interest in Natalie Imbruglia. I heard she was a fan and had borrowed some of the Sundays' style, so I decided to check them out. Currently, RWA is my only Sundays album, and really I don't know if I need to ever buy another one. I hear they have been accused of making the same album three times, however, I won't rule out a future purchase if the feeling strikes me.

Harriet Wheeler's voice is at times very soothing to me despite sounding like a 12 year old girl. Or, maybe that's the reason it's soothing. But how can that be when I don't even like children that well? Anyway, the music makes me feel like I'm in San Francisco on a rainy afternoon, which is odd considering I've never been to San Francisco. But the mood and tone of the album just puts me in that frame of mind. It probably comes from watching some movies based in SF.

1. Skin and Bones--a great opener. In my top 3. 9/10

2. Here's Where the Story Ends--Another great song. It is simple lyrics and simple music, but the title of the album does allude to "the basics," so all of the songs are fitting, particularly this one. 9.5/10

3. Can't Be Sure--easily the worst song on the album, though not horrible. It's just less interesting. Some of the lyrics are poignant, but the parts about England are blah, and the song as a whole just doesn't deliver. 4/10

4. I Won--Very nice song. "I don't know why it's hard to fall asleep in my house." 8.5/10

5. You're Not the Only One I Know--Hands down my favorite song on RWA. The melody, Wheeler's voice, the rhythm...it all meshes perfectly. It also has that drum tap at the very beginning that is reminiscent of U2's One. 10/10

6. A Certain Someone-Another great song. I especially like the parts where Wheeler speeds up her singing with the "a certain someone" phrase. 9/10

7. Hideous Towns-a song about military conscription? I don't know. It's okay. The second least good song. 5/10

8. I Kicked a Boy-good song. It's hard to say if the song could have been better if it had been longer. We'll never know. 8/10

9. My Finest Hour--pretty good. I admit I don't pay as much attention to the tail end of the album as I do to the beginning and middle. "Poetry is not for me, so show me the way to go." 7.5/10

10. Joy--nice ending. 7/10

That's the best way to sum up this album: nice. Not groundbreaking, but nice. A nice, pleasant, soothing album for lounging around in your bedroom. And you can tell from more current music, like Natalie Imbruglia, that the Sundays were influential.

Finally found it!.......2006-09-13

From 1992 to 1994 I worked for a local Rochester NY radio station called WBER. They played alot of great alternative. Belly, King Missile, Cranberries, Cocteau Twins etc...

We had a rotation of the current music and a rotation of classic cuts that played once per 3 song set. The song This Is Where The Story Ends was one of them and it got played alot. I always liked the song but never wrote it down. The melody had been stuck in my head ever since and unless I had gotten lucky and found a Sundays fan, I'd have never found this.

I found it because I use Yahoo music. It plays your favorites and alike music. By luck of god, it recommended that song to me the other day. My jaw dropped and I was so thilled!

This cd is so relaxing to listen to. Wonderful REAL music unlike most of today's garbage. If you like Cocteau Twins or Sixpence None The Richer, you'll love this CD. Every cut is a masterpiece!

other stuff to check out.......2006-06-21

I am a huge fan of catchy, quiet yet melodic folk/pop. If you enjoy this album then I strongly recommend that you check out the following:
1) What's Next To The Moon by Mark Kozelek
2) Paper Dolls And Paper Plates by Fear Of Commitment
3) So Tonight That I Might See by Mazz Star
4) Songs About Leaving by Carissa's Wierd

A wonderful, haunting album.......2006-05-28

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.

Average customer rating:

A saturnine alchemy of mood and melody

Reading, Writing and Arithmetic
The Sundays
Manufacturer: Emi
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Dream Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music

Alternative Rock | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000082KA
Release Date: 1997-05-12

Tracks:

Skin & Bones
Here's Where the Story Ends
Can't Be Sure
I Won
Hideous Towns
You're Not the Only One I Know
Certain Someone
I Kicked a Boy
My Finest Hour
Joy

Customer Reviews:

A saturnine alchemy of mood and melody.......2000-06-17

Most famous for the track "Here's Where The Story Ends", The Sundays, and their debut album were pretty much ignored stateside after the singles release. That said, "HWTSE" is actually one of the weakest tracks on the album.

"Reading, Writing and Arithmetic" opens craftily with what sounds like a muted airplane engine that leads into "Skin&Bones"; a clever and mood-drenched song with elsusive drums, Cure-like guitars, and Harriet Wheeler's effortlessly beautiful vocals. (In fact, let it be noted that one of the joys of this album is the stellar percussion work by Patrick Hannan--he's sneaky and wickedly effective without ever becoming a distraction.) Following that we have "Here's where the..." and then into "Can't Be Sure" with its delicately cascading percussion and hypnotic guitars and Harriet's dead-pan lyrics, "England, my country, the home of the free, such miserable weather..."

Other stand-outs include the deceptively driving "Hideous Towns" and the sweetly sadistic "I Kicked a Boy" with lyrics such as, "When the weather's fine, when it's sunny outside, think about the time I kicked a boy till he cried. I could've been wrong...but I don't think I was." The album ends with the one-two punch of "Finest Hour" and "Joy". The former being a sweeping tune about a relationship with a minor with the subtle and sweeping chorus of "And I keep hoping that you are the same as me, and I bring you letters and come to your house for tea, we are who we are, what do the others know? But poetry is not for me so show me the way to go." The tracks ends hauntingly with Harriet crooning, "...you're too young...it should have been safe, I bribed the judge and sat down...og you're too young." The latter, "Joy" I can only describe as the pregnant silence before a thunderstorm. The vocals, clever drums and Harriet's vocals act as humidity and you can almost feel your hair gently curl as the song reaches a point of critical mass and thunder.

The weakest tracks on the album are the still enjoyable "HWTSE" and the forced-sounding "A Certain Someone". All in all, however, I have never encountered an album that evoked such mood and aesthetic bliss than "Reading, Writing and Arithmetic". If the first time you ever listen to it is on a balmy overcast day, as in my case, you'll find yourself scrambling for this CD whenever the clouds roll in. You'll have no choice, really. The music demands it.

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