another sunny day - "you should all be murdered" (from the london weekend lp ... um, ebay, maybe?)

in brief : when it's raining and cold and you're doing holiday shopping, and one has such thoughts, it's nice to have something to hum along to.

harvey williams was something of the forrest gump of the twee-pop scene, playing in the field mice, saint etienne, blueboy, and trembling blue stars. before all of that, he played in his own band, another sunny day, whose records are v. much of a muchness w/ others on the legendary sarah records label. it's a bit like the field mice, then, except colder and meaner.

the sound and theme of the record seem to be equally informed by the idea that all the people one likes are those that are dead and that one should be bludgeoned in one's bed. uncharitable, then, but another sunny day has a way of taking the edge off of even the hardest truths. harvey and the band sound like they have an inexhaustible array of stringed instruments at their disposal; the final product is as windswept as "william, it was really nothing" and as stinging as "index." they're less obdurate than either lawrence or morrissey--one imagines the sentiment presented here is but a moment of anger and not a worldview--which does make them less iconic, but they remain influential nonetheless ...