england's as happy as england can be: the sundays - "reading, writing and arithmetic" poll

haha i've been getting right back into this lately

need to think about it. once i would have instantly gone for my finest hour, but the lyrics don't resonate quite like they used to

finally heard the demo of can't be sure yesterday, was truly amazed at how unchanged the arrangement is in the final version

i think it comes down to hideous towns vs can't be sure. i think the underdog might have to take it this time

i voted "can't be sure" (as the poll's title would suggest)

good choice for a poll! it could be almost any track...but the guitar on Skin & Bones is so out of this world, i think i'm gonna go for that.

Oh god... so hard. Lyrically, it would have to be I Kicked A Boy. But I'm in love with the whooping and swooping melody of You're Not The Only One... I Knoooowww... (And I'm too proud to talk to you anyway)

But what is the song with the lyric "You see me in a cardigan and a dress, dress, dress that I've been sick on..." ?

Skin & Bones.

But now I'm reading the lyrics I want to vote for all of them.

Oh god, the coda on My Finest Hour - her voice sends shivers down my spine. The missing link between Cocteau Twins and the Smiths? Except, erm, really, I'll just go ahead and vote for this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H60jKJ4VrdQ

Impossible to choose from "Here's Where The Story Ends," "My Finest Hour," and "A Certain Someone."

"Hideous Towns" by a million miles for me, the whole song is just this ecstatic rush that in some ways I think is kinda unmatched by anything ever.

But that's not to downplay the brilliance of so much other stuff here - "Can't Be Sure" and "My Finest Hour" in particular. Wow I seem to boring taste in this regard.

Comes down to "Hideous Towns" vs "You're Not The Only One I Know" for me. I think the latter by a hair.

Hideous Towns

Love this record. "Skin & Bones" for me.

Such a great album, tough to pick but I'll have to go with "Can't Be Sure", the lyrical refrain at the end still kills me 20 years later.

yeah.

Where did they go?

They came out with a single, then went away.

Came back with something great (the 1st LP), then went away for ages.

Came back with another one, went away for a long time.

Came back with "Summertime", and an LP, then went away........

They take their private lives more seriously than their music, which is commendable.

"can't be sure," for the drums as much as anything. whatever happened to their drummer? he was good.

Joining the lurkers and voting for "Here's Where The Story Ends" -- as much as I love this whole record nothing matches the experience of hearing this on the radio and slack-jawing at its raw beauty.

I often feel it's kind of bad form to vote for the obvious well-known choice but dammit, I can't NOT vote for "Can't Be Sure" on this one

Wait, huh? Surely "Here's Where The Story Ends" is the obvious well-known choice?

"Can't Be Sure" really is amazing.

It is in Amerikay.

xpost

"Can't Be Sure" really is amazing.

Probably the song I come back to the most, along with "I Kicked a Boy."

'You're Not The Only One I Know', which I first heard on a Toy Machine skateboarding video about 12 years ago.

so who else on ilx heard the emma bunton version of 'here's where the story ends' first huh

the final straw in an already doomed relationship was when i played this for the girl once and she hated it.

I voted for Can't be Sure as well, but it was a tough call, I was very close to voting for I Kicked a Boy

I have got to listen to this album again! This thread is reminded me of how much I love almost every song on it.

I love this album front to back like I love few other albums, and "I Kicked a Boy" the most. It's all about the little deviation from the melody Harriet does at the end.

all their songs seem to really take off at the end, its their stock in trade.

This album makes me deliriously happy. "Can't Be Sure."

I remember taping their '89 Peel Session off the radio with no idea who they were, and absolutely loving it, and then seeing the video for Can't Be Sure on The Chart Show which pretty much sealed the deal for lifelong adoration. So difficult to choose on this one, but went for CBS in the end - close second for Joy though, surely one of the best album closers ever.

you're not the only one

On my first and only trip to London I picked up an NME, and "Can't Be Sure" was single of the week. Bought it unheard at Rough Trade, but the friend I was staying with didn't have a turntable, so I was unable to hear it in its "proper" environment and had to wait until returning to the US. Beautful single, then and now.

This is such a great autumn record.

i voted for You're Not The Only One I Know, but like everyone else here, i've grown to love every track on this album. Would love to hear that Peel Session if anyone has it in decent quality.

Try these:
http://www.duckworthsquare.com/frankosonic/frankosonic/2008/05/sundays-peel-session.html
http://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/2008/09/sundays-reading-writing-and-arithmetic.html

perfect, thanks

Drumming on Hideous Towns is so great.

This is such a great autumn record.

OTM

it's not bad in spring either

Pretty great all year round.

Cheers for the links, Jazzbo. The Black Session version of Joy from wilfullyobscure is *incredible* - Gavurin's great swathes of guitar towards the end even put me in mind of the sainted Julian Swales from Kitchens of Distinction, which is clearly a VERY GOOD THING.

This is so difficult, but I ended up plumping for "I Kicked a Boy".

If "Don't Tell Mother" hadn't been thrown away as a b side and ended up on the album as it should have done, I'd have voted for that.

The first CD I ever bought, and I'm still listening to it.

Did you only buy it this afternoon though

I still rate Blind over this - maybe because I heard it first, I know it's a rare and challenging opinion.

Peel session version of My Finest Hours wipes the *floor* with the album version. SO good.

Been thinking about this for a couple days now. I've been torn b/w HWTSE, CBS, YNTOOIK & Hideous Towns, tho an argument could be made for pretty much every song on this fantastic album. I think I'll go for You're Not The Only One I Know.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Just played my old vinyl of this the other day. I voted "My Finest Hour". I do love this album, but interestingly, on this recent re-listen I found her vocals grated a little. Small doses good and all that.

Album is so good, haven't listened to whole thing in a long time. Voted "Kicked a Boy" b/c that one still goes through my head a lot, but I don't remember skipping any of these.

god I'd love a good remaster of this CD. I never heard the vinyl (is there one) but the CD is a treble-y mess, so harsh. The bass playing on this record sounds incredible but it's really difficult to hear.

All the Sundays albums were released on vinyl, but this was the only one released on vinyl in both the US and UK.

Its good on vinyl - I could imagine it sounding thin on CD.

i have the orig RT press, always sounded fine t' me

of the cd that is

I had the pic disc version, but it was off-centre which put a big dampener on it.

can't be sure. its the only sundays song I really love

You seem awfully sure of that.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I feel sad for "A Certain Someone", LOVE the rawk drama especially at the end.

TWENTY YEARS!

http://thequietus.com/articles/03709-25-years-on-remembering-the-sundays-reading-writing-and-arithmetic

think i will never not love this album

^^^

such miserable weather

easily one of the best records of all time. "Can't Be Sure" just gave me chills, what a sleeper, the textures on that song. i cannot with Harriet's voice.

TWENTY YEARS!

http://thequietus.com/articles/03709-25-years-on-remembering-the-sundays-reading-writing-and-arithmetic

― piscesx, Thursday, May 27, 2010

The post says 20 years, the URL says 25 years, and if you click through, the article itself, from 2010, is titled "30 Years On: Remembering The Sundays' Reading, Writing and Arithmetic".

(I guess the quietus goes back and updates their article titles/links to mark the passing of time?)

haha impressive staffing resources

I remember reading a good interview with the group from years ago in some travel magazine. i remember them being super honest about how hard success was and being perfectionistic, it was refreshing and enabled me to understand their catalog

There’s a very good bandsplain pod on them

oh from last year! cool

Love that Alice Donut toured with them - that musta been a bill.

sounds like a fun night in the tour bus

Breihan's wonderful essay on "Here's Where the Story Ends": https://www.stereogum.com/2248843/the-alternative-number-ones-the-sundays-heres-where-the-story-ends/columns/the-alternative-number-ones/

I think it's an absolutely beautiful song but it was always more of a song that sounded like it was written for a film than a go-to on the record

Would love to see a Blind poll; Blood On My Hands is one of their best imo.

ha that's cool about The QUIETUS thing.