Many fans of the sophisticated pop micro-genre consider SULK to be an eighties masterpiece, on a par with Talk Talk’s SPIRIT OF EDEN and STEVE MCQUEEN of Prefab Sprout. Others find the duo’s art-pop compositions and Billy Mackenzie’s exalted vocals hard to bear. It’s true, the Scot is closer to the artistic singing of Klaus Nomi than Simon LeBon.
The sequencing of SULK, their second album, shows how little the duo was interested in rules: The successful singles “Party Fears Two” and “Club Country” are placed at the bottom, in 1982 a no-go, the hits have to be at the front. There SULK offers the dazzling revue ballad “No”, the gothic twist “Bap De La Bap” and the post-punk “Nude Spoons” – grandiose songs about obsessions, hysteria and (longing) addictions.
For the 40th birthday there is an edition with all sorts of bonus tracks. These include pieces that producer John Leckie recorded and that show the duo in a compact and powerful way, almost like New Order. There are also peel sessions and a recording of a gig from Apeldoorn: they don’t play the singles, but instead they play the fantastic track “A Matter Of Gender” from their debut THE AFFECTIONATE PUNCH. It shows how much they were ahead of their time in terms of content and music.
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