Associates – Sulk (1982)
Sulk was the third LP by Associates in as in as many years, albeit one of the previous LPs had simply brought together singles and b-sides. It was, however, the first to bring them commercial success to match the critical acclaim of the earlier releases.
My first exposure to the band came via a friend passing me copies of their singles and earlier material on a cassette tape, and initally it was the pulsing weird electronica of the likes of Transport to Central, White Car In Germany and Tell Me Easter’s On Friday that grabbed my attention. But gradually my ears attuned themselves to the strange vocals that accompanied the music and allowed me to fully ‘get’ what Associates were all about.
There was no way, however, that I thought they’d ever be a chart band which would attracted a teenybop following such as happened in 1981. Sure, both boys were handsome and photogenic, particularly frontman Billy Mackenzie and thanks to them being on WEA Records they had a big promo/marketing arm there to push them along. But these boys were just too weird to be pop stars weren’t they?
The stunning success of the singles Party Fears Two and Club Country changed everything. Looking back there’s a big hint that this was an unexpected development all round – neither single had an advance promo made in an era when this was just about the first thing any record label, and not just a major like WEA, considered when planning the release of a 45.
It can often be the case that the inclusion of one or two truly stunning songs can overshadow the rest on an LP and make everything else seem tame or even mediocre in comparison. But there’s no chance of Party Fears Two or Club Country having that impact or effect on Sulk, as all ten tracks really are something very special.
I know the LP was given a totally different tracklisting upon release in the USA – three of the tracks on the UK release were omitted and replaced with songs which had been singles, so what follows might not make sense to readers from that part of the world.
Rather unusually, Side A is devoid of the hit singles – indeed it is a side of an LP that goes out of its way to be often as far removed as possible from the jauntiness and joy of the music which had got the band radio airplay, appearances on Top of the Pops and those afore-mentioned Top 20 hits.
Having said that, it opens with an upbeat and incredibly catchy instrumental in Arrogance Gave Him Up that I can recall being a staple on the dancefloor of at least one alternative Glasgow nightclub. After that, the trio of No, Bap De La Bap, Gloomy Sunday and Nude Spoons are as astonishing a run of music as you can ever hope to hear as Alan Rankine demonstrates that top-quality electronica back in 1982 could be made without it sounding rinky-dinky, light, inconsequential or disposable.
Thankfully Sulk came with a lyric sheet as there’s no way that you’d have worked out what the hell Billy was singing. And it wasn’t that you couldn’t make out the words a la Elizabeth Fraser/Cocteau Twins, it was more like realising all the words on their own make sense, but in the order sung by Billy seem either nonsensical or inspired. Or both.
Oh, and the version of Gloomy Sunday, one of the most covered songs of all time, is surely among the best there is….
Side B opens with Skipping and It’s Better This Way – two of the best bits of music the band would ever lay down – and closes with firstly the hit singles and ultimately an instrumental that would later be extended and turned into a further hit single.
mp3: Associates – Skipping
Sulk is a work of genius. Actually, it’s the work of two geniuses.
It’s a work that veers all over the place and while it will often be labelled in with many other synth-led LPs of the era, it is nothing like those of Japan, Human League, Simple Minds, Ultravox or the rest of the bands who cracked the charts on a regular basis. The vocals are often unworldly, going from a low and creepy moan to the high falsetto of a 10-year old choir boy in the space of seconds.
Sulk has songs that will have you leaping to the dance floor, and songs that will have you cowering behind the couch in fear. The production is outlandish and at times stretched to breaking point, but never ever snaps into overwrought pomp and pomposity. It’s a record which hasn’t dated….indeed, if anything it has got better with age. It’s an album that could only have been made in the 80s, as only at that point in time could the music industry have really indulged the artistes to the extent they did. And there’s no way that Billy and Alan would have become pop stars in the 21st Century, as their essential rough edges would have smoothed down to make them mundane and mediocre.
Sulk, dear readers, is an LP genuinely like no other.
And in deciding that it fits at #3 in this rundown, it has the honour of being my all-time favourite album by any singer or group to emerge out of Scotland.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Just realised I’m in complete denial about this series coming to an end
This was a phenomenal record. Had the 12″ of Party Fears on constant repeat, and that chiming guitar never lost its magic. As a teen in the early 80s, I remember the era as being rich in beautiful, original and challenging music. Didn’t have the cash to buy much at the time, but just listening to evening Radio 1 and Peel, you could discover (and OK, tape) artists and songs that would stay with you for a lifetime.
It. Is. A. Stunning. Record.
If we leave the ghost of the Cocteau Twins not being fully Scottish – at the time of some of my favourite Cocteau’s LP release dates – then I concur, Sulk is my favourite Scottish LP. It’s an absolutely bonkers record that shouldn’t work and as JC notes pushes everything to breaking point.
Only The Affectionate Punch or Head Over Heels could challenge it in my Scottish category.
I adored this record upon its release and I adore it now. I don’t hold with any additional tracks, remastering or such like (although I do own these). The original record, in it’s original (UK) form, evokes a world of possibilities and an excitement of what would come next…
Rankine and Mackenzie, for a short while, turned the world of pop on its head and have forever left it at a jaunty angle.
The early 80s seemed to open a new chapter in UK hits – what with the weirdness of both singles from this LP and say, Ghosts or Night Porter, by Japan.
Superb choice
SC
Totally agree – one of the best albums ever and high on my list too!
They were exquisite. And they pissed off my dad, so I knew they made sense.
I am ashamed to say that, although I am from Germany and although I drive a white car, I never got into The Associates. But I will give them another chance pretty soon …
I am ashamed to say that, although I am from Germany and although I drive a white car, I never got into The Associates. But I will give them another chance pretty soon …
Also:
“and in deciding that it fits at #3 in this rundown, it has the honour of being my all-time favourite album by any singer or group to emerge out of Scotland.” …. which rules out ‘Psychocandy’ @ #2, bugger!
I’m willing to have small bet though that yer #1 band will start with a “J” as well. Old prophet, me!!
And sorry for having doubled up my first comment.
I had a quick replay of my Associates 7″ singles just now – ‘Party Fears…’ and ”18 Carat..’ – great tune and takes me right back to 1982. Where was my copy of ‘Club Country’? Did I never buy it?? Well I never bought ‘Sulk’ 😦 – lack of funds and other distractions, so I will check it out later.
I failed in my top #5 predictions (apart from suggesting with a “?” that the Associates could be in there, and New Order (but PCL not Technique). My other 2 (Scottish) predictions are……..nowhere!!
Looking forward to #2 and #1………….
Bravo…throws cap in air as crowd applaud enthusiastically …………….(the only response from now on whenever Associates get mentioned)
What an amazing album, indeed. I get chills just looking at the cover let alone listening all these years later.
I cannot believe that I was not LIVING this album in 1982, but I didn’t hear Associates until 1990, and the release of “Popera.” But I own two original UK LP pressings as well as the German CD of the US version, the 2001 V2 version, and the recent ultrabox 40th anniversary edition. I’m a bit misty-eyed over the insanity of the LP version never managing to make it onto the silver disc! But if ever there were a clear top three album, “Sulk” would have to be in there somewhere! And of course it would have to be Scottish!!
Such a magnificent album, actually in my book the greatest album ever made – so would without competition be my #1. I have an unhealthy number of versions of this album, tbh I have an unhealthy amount of Associates/Billy/Alan records…
This is an album that is very near the top of my list too, and before writing this reply I jotted down how many times I had bought it, so far, and I have six different releases. The 1982 UK vinyl; the 1983(?) cassette with the US release on one side and the UK on the other; 1988 US release CD (although I think manufactured in Europe, I can check later); 2000 expanded 17 track release; 2016 2cd deluxe and last year’s super deluxe 3cd & blue vinyl with a free exclusive ‘Party Fears Two’ CDEP. And there are still a couple of b-sides from that time not included on any of those.
I’m enjoying this countdown and can’t wait for the next two installments.
Who else is surprised that JC kept the top 2 spots for Def Leppard and Motley Crue?
I have it on good authority that ‘Myths of the Near Future’ by the Klaxons is at number one.
As we near the business end I can’t be the only person avidly anticipating the next rundown, 18 years from now, 78 78s at 78.
I’m looking forward to 90 90 minute mixtapes at 90
Ah, it will be one of my life’s lasting regrets that I never got to see Associates live. There was such a buzz around them at that time. I found out about one gig (pre-Sulk) after it had long sold out and then I anticipated tickets for the Edinburgh Assembly Rooms gig that got cancelled when Rankine finally gave up on Billy when he refused to tour America and leave his beloved whippets behind. I think I must have felt almost as exasperated as Alan Rankine at that moment.
My original release day copy of Sulk disappeared when I lent it to a friend and her brother nicked it, but I subsequently picked up an Aussie pressing over here, as well as having the CD with extra singles. And I have both versions of The Affectionate Punch, well worth the duplication. My personal favorite Associates track is Kitchen Person (featured on Fourth Drawer Down). Stupidly abrasive and incomprehensible, utterly perverse as a choice for a single, just my kind of thing…