‘Reading, Writing And Arithmetic’: The Sundays’ Cultured Debut Album

The Sundays enjoyed critical acclaim from the get-go. Early live shows attracted reams of press, with one of U.K. weekly Melody Maker’s writers even describing the young, London-based indie-pop act as “the best thing I’ve ever heard.” Bearing that in mind, it’s no surprise to learn the band quickly became hot property, with several labels courting them in a bid to release their debut album Reading, Writing And Arithmetic.

After some deliberation, The Sundays pledged allegiance with Geffen Records in the U.S. and Rough Trade in the U.K. and tested the water with the single “Can’t Be Sure.” Peaking just outside the U.K’s Top 40, this initial 45 drew favorable comparisons with the likes of The Smiths and The Sugarcubes and topped influential BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel’s annual Festive 50 listeners’ poll for 1989.

That same year, The Sundays embarked on the Reading, Writing And Arithmetic sessions, working diligently alongside co-producer (and ex-Gentle Giant mainstay) Ray Shulman and engineer/future Nine Inch Nails producer Alan Moulder. The recordings stretched out across several months. “They were particular, but only because they wanted to be very certain about what they put out,” Rough Trade’s Jeanette Lee told Classic Pop in 2022. “Some people just record and fling something out and see what happens. Not The Sundays. They are perfectionists.”

The wait was worth it. When Reading, Writing And Arithmetic arrived in January 1990, it immediately impressed. Never brash, but always confident, its tracklist was full of lush, tastefully-constructed songs, ranging from the introspective “Skin And Bones” to the punchy “A Certain Someone” and the warm, summery “Here’s Where The Story Ends.”

Embellished by David Gavurin’s chiming guitars, the band’s ensemble performance was always steady and often inspired, though vocalist Harriet Wheeler grabbed most of the plaudits. Her alluring voice often elicited comparisons with Bjork or The Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser (Rolling Stone described her as “exceptionally expressive”) and her keening delivery ensured the album’s best songs simply soared.

Reading, Writing And Arithmetic duly established The Sundays on both sides of the Atlantic. In the U.K. it peaked at No. 4 and went silver, but it did even better in the U.S. where it went gold and sneaked into the Top 40 on the back of breakout single “Here’s Where The Story Ends” topping Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart. Hailed by Entertainment Weekly as “an album radiant with apparently effortless sophistication” on release, it remains a beguiling listen decades later.

Listen to The Sundays album Reading, Writing And Arithmetic now.