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Sulk

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This article is about the Associates album. For the Radiohead song, see Sulk (song).
Untitled

Sulk is the third album by Scottish New-wave band The Associates. It was released in May 1982, and reissued as a CD in 2000 with extra tracks (Virgin VVR 1012012). It stayed in the British album chart for 20 weeks, reaching number 10.

Style

The band's new-wave origins barely show on this album. There are numerous overdubs, sometimes of strange sound sources such as steel canisters or sheets of metal. An atmosphere of gloom opens the album, with dramatic chords backgrounding Billy MacKenzie's bizarre, unsettling lyrics ("Tore my hair out from the roots/Planted them in someone's garden"). at times this gloom turns into a surreal excitement ("Nude spoons euphoria") that Mackenzie's impressive vocal range easily reaches, and then surpasses.

Track listing

Original UK release

  1. Arrogance Gave Him Up (Rankine/MacKenzie) 3:00
  2. No (Rankine/Mackenzie) 5:50
  3. Bap De La Bap (Rankine/MacKenzie) 4:18
  4. Gloomy Sunday (Seress/Lewis) 4:11
  5. Nude Spoons (Rankine/MacKenzie) 4:21
  6. Skipping (Rankine/MacKenzie/Dempsey) 4:03
  7. It's Better This Way (Rankine/MacKenzie) 3:30
  8. Party Fears Two (MacKenzie/Rankine) 5:12
  9. Club Country (MacKenzie/Rankine) 4:47
  10. nothinginsomethingparticular (Rankine/MacKenzie) 2:19

The 2000 reissue includes the following tracks:

  1. Love Hangover (Sawyer/Macleod) 6:09
  2. 18 Carat Love Affair (Rankine/MacKenzie) 3:40
  3. Ulcragyceptimol (Rankine/MacKenzie)4:29
  4. And Then I Read a Book (Rankine/MacKenzie) 4:25
  5. Australia (Rankine/MacKenzie)
  6. Grecian 2000 (Rankine/MacKenzie) 3:18
  7. The Room We Sat In Before (Rankine/MacKenzie) 3:28
  • The original vinyl album ended with "nothinginsomethingparticular" (spelt with a lower case "n"), a short, instrumental version of the single "18 Carat Love affair".
  • "The Room We Sat In Before" is a guitar/vocal version of "It's Better This Way".

US release

The album was issued in the USA on October 4 1982 in a slightly different format. The album was sequenced differently, with a number of the tracks on the UK release replaced by different tracks. In addition the first two tracks were remixed by Mark Arthurworrey. This version was also released on CD by WEA in Europe in the early 90's.

  1. It's Better This Way 3:30
  2. Party Fears Two 5:11
  3. Club Country 4:02
  4. Love Hangover 4:21
  5. 18 Carat Love Affair 3:48
  6. Arrogance Gave Him Up 3:00
  7. No 5:49
  8. Skipping 4:04
  9. White Car In Germany 4:52
  10. Gloomy Sunday 4:11
  11. The Associate 3:40

Singles

  1. "Party Fears Two" (Feb 1982) UK chart position: 9
  2. "Club Country" (May 1982) UK chart position: 13
  3. "18 Carat Love Affair"/"Love Hangover" (double 'A' side) (August 1982) UK chart position: 21

Only the first two singles appeared on the original vinyl album.

Recording

The Associates:

Recorded at Playground Studios

The are numerous stories about the recording sessions for this album, some of which are true. For instance, Mackenzie allegedly proposed that he and Alan Rankine arrive with fish tied to their lapels, for "creative enhancement"; hired drums were filled with water, destroying them; and the studio was once decorated with helium-filled balloons.

Source

Tom Doyle: "Sulk" CD sleevenotes (2000)

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