Part of an irregular series of bite-sized posts about 7″ singles I own – shameless nostalgia from the days of vinyl. (Search ‘Backtracking’ to collect the set!)
THE SUNDAYS – Can’t Be Sure b/w I Kicked A Boy (Rough Trade, 1989)
David Gavurin (guitar) and Harriet Wheeler (voice)
“Give me a job and a perfect behind” is not a line you can’t imagine Morrissey writing but everything about this perfect pop single makes me think of The Smiths- “Did you know desire’s a terrible thing” most certainly IS something you can imagibe Steven Patrick writing.
I remember playing it to death when it came out and I was obviously not alone as it topped John Peel’s Festive Fifty for that year. There’s a breezy optimism and homeliness about Harriet Walter’s voice that is very beguiling.
Despite this, the black & white photo of apples and pears on the cover also suggests being stuck in a still life and yearning for a life elsewhere.
It’s the final verse that takes it from English miserabilism to something more hopeful and positive: “It’s my life and though I can’t be sure what I want anymore it will come to me later” is something that could only be written by a young person with the luxury of putting off difficult choices till the moment is right.
The B-side is equally fine – a kind of gentile feminism (“I kicked a boy ……..I could have been wrong – but I don’t think I was”).
