Flying Nun's deluxe reissue of Send You, the 1983 debut album from Dunedin's Sneaky Feelings, is not only a welcome bit of the iconic label's glorious part in indie music history, but a key rebuttal to the argument that the "Dunedin Sound" was confined to scrappy punk-inflected bands such as The Clean or melodic melancholy pop bands like The Bats. The sound of Sneaky Feelings was a full, even lush, guitar pop, often with jangling psychedelic touches. The songs bore affecting harmonies and lead vocals more reminiscent of UK's The Verve, The Weather Prophets or Simple Minds, or California guitar pop, than of many of their labelmates. With all three members -- Matthew Bannister, David Pine and Martin Durrant -- writing songs for the album, the material was strong throughout. Moreover, for this reissue the label has supplemented the nine remastered original songs with seven more, including all of the tracks from the popular Husband House EP.
This was music with sophistication, breadth, and justifiable ambition, musically and thematically. The dynamic emotional expression truthfully is more akin to The Beatles than what one might have expected from a band sharing space on the seminal Dunedin Double release from Flying Nun. I would buy this album just to get "Throwing Stones" "Be My Friend" and "Everything I Want" (a song I love to an embarrassing degree), even if the rest of the songs weren't good. But the happy fact is that this collection is wonderful from start to finish. It may be the most robust jangle pop album you ever hear.
Send You can be ordered from the Flying Nun affiliate, Flying Out, or in the US from Captured Tracks. Links for both are below.
Order page for Send You at Flying Out
Order page for Send You at Captured Tracks
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