Sulk

Product Information

Tributes to Rankine have already begun to flood in. Broadcaster Vic Galloway said his death was “incredibly sad news.” Brilliant and Full of Depth It's not easy to pull off and album that goes from the gothic angst of "It's Better This Way" to the pop grandiosity of "18 Carat Love Affair" in one, but this does it. It's a wonderful demonstration of the range of The Associates.

Dingwall, John (6 May 2016). "The Associates in talks to stage anniversary concerts". Dailyrecord.co.uk. Also features exclusive sleevenotes from journalist Simon Reynolds with interviews from Alan Rankine, Michael Dempsey, Mike Hedges & Martha Ludley plus previously unseen photography by Derek Reid, Tom Sheehan & Eveline Dröge. ALAN RANKINE: I heard him a couple of weeks before I met him. He was a diffident character. Quite aloof. He seemed like a fish out of water. Coming from Dundee to Edinburgh he was quite self-preserving until I got to know him a bit better, but that took place over just a couple of days. Their second studio album Sulk, released in 1982, was the group's definitive statement, a fascinating blend of lush, New Romantic popcraft and dark, surreal cabaret stylings. Upon its release, the album was voted the album of the year by Melody Maker.Growing up in the 1980s, a much derided decade, I've always been an advocate of pop: it's not a dirty word! & the early 1980s, post-Abba/post-Bowie/post-Chic/post-Moroder/post-Roxy, was an era when pop was at its most inventive. From ABC's The Lexicon of Love to Scritti Politti's The Sweetest Girl, from Cabaret Voltaire's Red Mecca to Simple Minds' New Gold Dream, from The Human League's Dare! to Prince's Controversy etc- this was an era of wild abandon alluded to on the recent compilation 'Death Disco'. Associates' Sulk is probably the masterpiece of the era, an album that on one hand was perfect pop, and on the other wildly experimental. This is the album that just edges out other contenders for greatest album of the era- Sorry for Laughing, The Correct Use of Soap, A Kiss in the Dreamhouse, Avalon, Climate of Hunter, New Gold Dream... If you are a dyed in the wool Associates fan or you’ve never dipped your toe in the water before, buy this album. I’d hate to think there are people on this planet who have never experienced Sulk. They don’t know quite what they are missing.

He later taught at Stow College in Glasgow, where he helped students set up their own record label, Electric Honey, which later launched the careers of bands such as Belle and Sebastian, Snow Patrol and Biffy Clyro. Rankine later became a lecturer in music at Stow College in Glasgow, and worked with Belle and Sebastian on their 1996 debut album, Tigermilk.

a b c d Petridis, Alexis (27 April 2007). " 'If You're Brave, Do It Like We Did' ". The Guardian . Retrieved 8 May 2013. The Associates are relying on two factors here: 'quirk', which only attracts the mindless or performative; and a very thin veil of 'intellect' over what is, in reality, a total absence of talent or ability when it comes to the creation of music. Outside of the studio, almost not one of these numbers would even be playable. Inside the studio, they amount to a heap of cacophony and obnoxity (not a word). If one is so enamoured with 'difference' that one must sidestep achievement altogether, then one is a vain idiot. The main single is all worth time here, and not much.