Vocalist Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin met as students at Bristol University in the mid-1980's, and after falling in love and moving in together, they wrote music in their free time while collecting unemployment benefits. Except for Wheeler's vocal duties in a band called Jim Jiminee, the couple had no musical background, but Gavurin had a drive to write music, and Wheeler displayed similar feelings. After the couple had completed several songs, they migrated to London and enlisted the support of bassist Paul Brindley and drummer Patrick Hannan, who had also attended Bristol University, and whose brother Nick had also been a member of Jim Jiminee. The band chose the name The Sundays' as it was the only one everyone could agree upon, and demo tapes were sent out to several London clubs after the group felt energized by their efforts. Responses to the tape were enthusiastic and an employee at Vertigo Club offered the band an opening slot for an upcoming show in August 1988, which just happened to have three reviewers in the audience from the top music papers. Instead of reviewing the main band, they wrote about The Sundays, and the group subsequently became the focus of a record label bidding war. They eventually signed with Rough Trade Records and had a distribution deal signed for the United States with DGC Records, releasing their first single 'Can't Be Sue' in January 1989. It topped the British indie charts and received acclaim as one of the best singles of the year, with the group soon being invited to record a session for the John Peel radio show.
They worked on their debut album for over a year, as unlike many bands who sign a record deal after playing the circuit for years, the band didn't have enough material for a long-player, but after writing and recorded more songs, 'Reading, Writing And Arithmetic' was released in January 1990. It was a commercial success, reaching number 4 on the UK charts, and peaking at number 39 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. Its distinct Englishness in lyrics, augmented by Harriet Wheeler's accent, alongside their lighter-than-air guitar pop, influenced the nascent Britpop scene, notably impacting bands like Sleeper, while the hit single 'Here's Where The Story Ends' gave them considerable success in the USA. The band experienced some hardships leading up to the recording of their second album, as in 1991 Rough Trade Records went bankrupt, and a lot of their bands had to find new record deals. The Sundays signed with Parlophone Records in the UK, but constant touring coupled with their decision to manage themselves hampered the group's creative output. This was already an issue, as Gavurin and Wheeler were the main songwriters, and were perfectionists when it came to writing and recording their music. The band's low profile around this time led to rumours that they had disbanded, but this was laid to rest with the issue of a new single, 'Goodbye', which was a minor hit in the Autumn of 1992, and the b-side was a cover of The Rolling Stones' 'Wild Horses'. Their next album, 'Blind', was finally released in October 1992, and was as successful as their debut, peaking at number 103 on the Billboard 200. Critical reception was also positive, although some critics thought the album lacked the quality song-writing of its predecessor.
After a tour of the US, the band holidayed in Thailand and, upon returning to England, they put their music career on the back burner for a time, with Gavurin and Wheeler expressing a desire to settle down. Wheeler gave birth to the couple's daughter, Billie, in March 1995, and they also built a recording studio in their home, not only to save on the cost of renting a studio, but also to expand their creative freedoms. After a five year hiatus, the group reconvened and released their third album, 'Static & Silence', although the reviews were more mixed than for their first two records. While the band retained much of the same sound that they developed on previous albums, they added horns to a number of tracks, and although the album was not as successful as their others, the single 'Summertime' became their most successful hit to date on the UK chart ,and achieved a top 10 spot on the US Alternative Rock chart. As might be expected, bearing in mind how hard Gavurin and Wheeler found it to write their music, not many of their singles included exclusive material, with only one new song appearing in 1990, and two in 1992, but for their comeback in 1997 they were much more prolific, and so if we add in the previously unreleased 'Turkish', we have a nice 41-minute album of rare and hard to find recordings from this enigmatic band.
Track listing
01 Don't Tell Your Mother (b-side of 'Can't Be Sure' 1990)
02 Noise (b-side of 'Goodbye' 1992)
03 Wild Horses (b-side of 'Goodbye' 1992)
04 Here's Where The Story Ends (live, b-side of 'Wild Horses' 1993)
05 Turkish (unreleased song 1997)
06 Can't Be Sure (demo) (b-side of 'Cry' 1997)
07 You're Not The Only One I Know (demo) (b-side of 'Cry' 1997)
08 Through The Dark (b-side of 'Cry' 1997)
09 Life Goes On (b-side of 'Cry' 1997)
10 Nothing Sweet (b-side of 'Summertime' 1997)
11 Gone (b-side of 'Summertime' 1997)
12 So Much (bonus track on re-issue of 'Static & Silence' 1997)
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