New Wave Outpost Forum

What would you classify the Sundays as?

They started in the late 80's. Simple but at the same time witty and ironic (i.e. "My Finest Hour was finding a pound in the Underground"). Lead singer Harriet Wheeler has a delicious little girl like British accent

how about "lovely"??

oh geez, that is a good question. I've always thought of them as indie pop, but maybe that's oversimplifying their music. Harriet Wheeler is one of my favorite female voices. I was hoping she'd be asked to partake in some This Mortal Coil-ish project.

It's just Indie Pop, right? There's always been a thread of Indie Pop running from the 70s through today. Flashcubes to the Dentists to Felt to Able Tasmans to the Chesterf!elds to the LA's to Stereolab to Teenage Fanclub to Gin Blossoms to Fountains of Wayne. It's like this alternate parallel universe of sweet pop music that refused to be swayed by metal or grunge or britpop or rap or rap-metal or alt-country or whatever. It's a really cool genre with a wealth of little known bands to discover (thanks to Otters for a wealth of help in that regard!).

I liked The Sundays, I would classy them more as Indie. My old GF looked exactly like Harriet. It was eerie.

In our country, they are classiied as New Wave (right DSR?). I think they won band of the year (or something like that)tied with The Charlatans in 1990 with their album that features "Heres Where The Sotry Ends". That album wasnt released locally here.

They are so great a band that The Cranberries are imitating them, IMHO. [:D]

I could listen to Harriet Wheeler sing all day. But that's just me.

The Sundays are like the Cocteau Twins, but with decipherable lyrics.

[quote][i]Originally posted by Blir[/i]
<br>It's just Indie Pop, right? There's always been a thread of Indie Pop running from the 70s through today. Flashcubes to the Dentists to Felt to Able Tasmans to the Chesterf!elds to the LA's to Stereolab to Teenage Fanclub to Gin Blossoms to Fountains of Wayne. It's like this alternate parallel universe of sweet pop music that refused to be swayed by metal or grunge or britpop or rap or rap-metal or alt-country or whatever. It's a really cool genre with a wealth of little known bands to discover (thanks to Otters for a wealth of help in that regard!).
[/quote]

I live in that parallel universe everyday! Interesting choice of artists for your thread example, though. I always thought bands like Gin Blossoms traced back to 80s American college rock groups like Dream Syndicate and the Connells, whereas the descendants of the Dentists / Chesterf!elds / La's pop groups were bands like Heavenly then Belle & Sebastian then the wonderful Camera Obscura.

But that's another thread of interest to almost no one here.

I remember seeing the Sundays at the Living Room in Providence in 1990. My friends and I were home after our first year of college. 3 of us stood directly in front, about 3 feet from Harriet, and basically just stared at her with stupid grins on our faces for the entire show. She was gorgeous and we were typical 19-year-old boys. The guitarist, her husband (although we didn't know it at the time), gave us dirty looks the whole time. Definitely a cherished concert experience.

[quote][i]Originally posted by Otters Walk Among Us[/i]
<br>Interesting choice of artists for your thread example, though.[/quote]
Well, I'll certainly defer to the master. [;)]

But speaking of one of those bands...

Camera Obscura
Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
Sat, Jan 27, 2007 09:00 PM

[quote][i]Originally posted by Blir[/i]

But speaking of one of those bands...

Camera Obscura
Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
Sat, Jan 27, 2007 09:00 PM
[/quote]

Why go all the way to Boston? They are playing in Northampton on Friday the 26th, about 10 minutes from my house.

I hope Lloyd Cole makes an appearance. He lives here in Easthampton, and Camera Obscura has a wonderful song telling Lloyd they are ready to be heartbroken. I'd love to take a picture of Lloyd as it is sung to him. Even better with a jealous wife by his side!

[quote][i]Originally posted by Otters Walk Among Us[/i]
<br>[.

But that's another thread of interest to almost no one here.

[/quote]

Actually, it's of vast interest to me, especially stuff from the late 80s, because that era was a black hole for me.

Blir, Otters, if you want to e-mail me a list of bands/songs to check out, that would be great.

[quote][i]Originally posted by hexicon[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by Otters Walk Among Us[/i]
<br>[.

But that's another thread of interest to almost no one here.

[/quote]

Actually, it's of vast interest to me, especially stuff from the late 80s, because that era was a black hole for me.

Blir, Otters, if you want to e-mail me a list of bands/songs to check out, that would be great.
[/quote]

You might want to check out Otters' web radio station.

Thanks, Schwenko.

I'm pretty close to Boston (60 mins) but unfortunately I can't make that Camera Obscura concert. Too bad.

Thanks for all the input.

Yes, Otters' radio station is a great resource for all things indiepop. [:D] The links in my profile will get you there.

For the late 80's, some great easy to find artists would be The Housemartins, early Wedding Present, early Primitives, and Would-Be-Goods.

This compilation is a wonderful place to start exploring some obscurities:

http://www.amazon.com/Cd86-Various-Arti ... F8&s=music

If anyone on the board hears this comp (or is familiar with the stuff on it) and wants to know more, let me know. I'm happy to make recommendations, sent out some mixes, whatever. There's so much great indiepop from that era, and lots of wonderful pop music from the 90s and 00s that is influenced by it.

Man, I started out in the early 90s really liking this band called Sixpence None the Richer (of "Kiss Me" fame). I always knew they were influenced by The Sundays. But I didn't check out The Sundays until the end of the 90s. At first I wasn't all that smitten. Now, I think I might like The Sundays a little more. Reading, Writing, & Arithmetic is definitely in my top 20 of all time.