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

5 Responses to “Reading, Writing and Arithmetic”

1. C. D. Bean says:

   October 8, 2009 at 12:00 am

   This is seriously one of the ONLY albums I’ve ever heard where every single song on the album is fantastic. There’s no a bad moment on this. I’d give it more than 5 stars if I could. Harriet Wheeler’s voice is angelic, sexy, cute and dreamy.
2. Tyler B. says:

   October 6, 2009 at 12:00 am

   This is my favorite 90s album. Whether or not it’s the “best” album of the 90s is hard to say. It certainly wasn’t the most influential, but it was the most fun to listen to. Sounds like The Smiths meets The Cranberries.
3. Joseph M. Davis says:

   January 12, 2009 at 12:00 am

   This is a great album from start to finish. How often does that happen these days? well it wasn’t happening often then either but this really uplifted me at the time and it has stood the test of- gosh- 19 years to remain a classic. Go to Youtube and watch the video of Here’s Where the Story Ends for a sample of what you’ll here. While that is the best song the others are similar and many are equally hypnotic.
4. lmgolightly says:

   December 16, 2008 at 12:00 am

   I remember when this cd (tape) came out, I was in middle school. Listening to it takes me back to my middle school field trip to Galveston, watching MTV (when MTV was music television) with my best friend, and taking road trips with my dad.

   Harriet Wheeler is hard to understand on this cd. Her accent is too thick, but I have listened to it so much I’ve been able to make out most of the words. Her accent betters with each cd, she’s a little easier to understand on Blind and she sings very clearly on Static and Silence. I love the humor in the songs on this album, like throwing up because of a town or reminiscing about kicking a boy until he cried. The music is relaxing and enjoyable even if you can’t make out the words.
5. Kelly L. Norman says:

   September 22, 2008 at 12:00 am

   Sometime in the midst of the little new wave renaissance that was the early 90s , I heard one radio DJ say to another “I just got back from London where they are worshipping Harriett Wheeler like a Gaaaaawwwwwwd.” Indeed. I have always loved “Here’s Where the Story Ends” but I never treated myself to any of the Sundays’ CDs until recently. Now I am thoroughly convinced that this CD is one of those rare recordings such asAbbey Roadand Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, in which there are no bad cuts.

   The lyrics are fashionably zippy (“hideous towns make me throw up”, “it’s good to have something to live for you’ll find…live for a job and a perfect behind”) and at times quite self-reflective(“I won the war in the sitting room, I won the war and it cost me, I won the war and I feel proud…but I don’t know why it’s hard to go to sleep in my house” and of course the whole of “Here’s Where the Story Ends” which I still can’t figure out ….is it a suicide note or a Dear John letter? You decide.) Wheeler’s voice is incredibly lovely. And the music is always eerily beautiful with chords that evoke the Beatles on a day off jamming with Sixpence None the Richer, who actually list the Sundays as an influence, or with the Gin Blossoms. The combination of teen detention center lyrics and bright melodies also predate Death Cab for Cutie….who said misery need be morose, even in the 20th century?

   Reading, Writing and Arithmetic is really the Sundays’ best recording. Blind, their sophomore effort, trots out what seems to be outtakes from RWA. Their mid-90’s CD, Static & Silence, contains at least one hit(“Summertime”), and ventures into new territory…but it’s Dylan-at-Newport territory, with more production and electronic instrumentation competing with Ms. Wheeler’s whispy vocal chords, no doubt frightening some of the fans who delighted in the pared-down sound presented here. As far as I know, we’ve heard naught from them since.

   This CD stands out as one of the few in which every song is pure pop pleasure. Besides….Reading, Writing and Arithmetic is the basics; you need to have the basics.