Sulk

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Sulk

Studio album by The Associates
Released	October 4, 1982
Genre	Rock
Label	Sire
All Music Guide link

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

1 Style
2 Track list
- 2.1 Singles
3 Recording
4 Source

[edit] Style

The band's new-wave origins barely show on this album. There are numerous overdubs, sometimes of strange sound sources such as steel cannisters or sheets of metal. An atmosphere of gloom opens the album, with dramatic chords backgrounding 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.

[edit] Track list

Arrogance Gave Him Up (Rankine/Mackenzie) 3:00
No (Rankine/Mackenzie) 5:50
Bap De La Bap (Rankine/Mackenzie) 4:18
Gloomy Sunday (Seress/Lewis) 4:11
Nude Spoons (Rankine/Mackenzie) 4:21
Skipping (Rankine/Mackenzie/Dempsey) 4:03
It's Better This Way (Rankine/Mackenzie) 3:30
Party Fears Two (Mackenzie/Rankine) 5:12
Club Country (Mackenzie/Rankine) 4:47
nothinginsomethingparticular (Rankine/Mackenzie) 2:19
Love Hangover (Sawyer/Macleod) 6:09
18 Carat Love Affair (Rankine/Mackenzie) 3:40
Ulcragyceptimol (Rankine/Mackenzie)4:29
And Then I Read a Book (Rankine/Mackenzie) 4:25
Australia (Rankine/Mackenzie)
Grecian 2000 (Rankine/Mackenzie) 3:18
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".

[edit] Singles

"Party Fears Two" (Feb 1982) UK chart postion: 9
"Club Country" (May 1982) UK chart position: 13
"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.

[edit] Recording

The Associates:

Billy Mackenzie - vocals
Michael Dempsey - bass
John Murphy - drums
Alan Rankine - other instruments

Martha Ladly - backing vocals and keyboads on 9,11 and 12

Mike Hedges - producer

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.