THE SUNDAYS | ||||||||
When The Sundays' career began, they were thrust into the spotlight almost immediately by a music press desperate to discover the 'new' Smiths. Songwriters David Gavurin and Harriet Wheeler (who had previously sung in a band called Jim Jiminee) had moved from Bristol, where the pair had met at University, to London and written some material, and recruited bassist Paul Brindley and drummer Patrick Hannan. Their plan was to perform a few gigs and gain some live experience before trying to attract record company interest. But at their first-ever gig - a support slot at the Camden Falcon - the journalists who attended to review the headliners ended up focusing on the opening act. Rave reviews followed in the NME, Melody Maker, and Sounds, and the Sundays' career skyrocketed. Acting as their own managers, they sifted through an avalanche of record company offers, and were in the enviable position of trying to reduce the amount of publicity the press were giving them. Eventually they decided to sign to the Rough Trade label and released their debut single, 'Can't Be Sure', in 1989, which gave them an indie chart no.1, and was esteemed Radio 1 D.J. John Peel's favourite track of the year. In early 1990 the band followed it up with a catchy, moody, jangle-pop album, 'Reading, Writing and Arithmetic', and they spent the rest of the year on a worldwide tour. The album went gold on both sides of the Atlantic. When Rough Trade collapsed in the early '90's, the band moved to Parlophone Records, and released their ambient-inluenced second LP, 'Blind', in late 1992. The album prompted a second world tour and they notched up another gold record in America. Gavurin and Wheeler then took the unusual step of retreating from the music business for some much-needed time off. They rediscovered a social life, had a baby, painted the bathroom, and constructed their own studio at home, where much of their third, album, 'Static & Silence'(1997), was written. The result was a more comfortable, warm sound that remained catchy but was less 'pop' than their previous albums. Following this, the pair retreated once again from the music industry, and have yet to announce any plans for further releases. IF YOU LIKE THESE, YOU'LL LIKE THE SUNDAYS: The Smiths, Natalie Merchant, 10,000 Maniacs, R.E.M., Everything But the Girl, Del Amitri, The La's, Mazzy Star, The Beautiful South, Morrissey, Cocteau Twins, The Beatles, Sixpence None the Richer, The Cranes, The Cardigans, Lush. |
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