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This album is spectacular - anyone who liked "Molly", "Wax Ecstatic" or "Have you seen Mary" will love this disc. The only other thing I would say that could have improved this record is to put the first song at the end of the disc instead, as a bonus track. They did not get as big as they deserved to be. wow. Long live Sponge. The lyrics to that song let you in on the mysterious title.
It is not about selling out and making bubble gum pop.It is actually about being a new Dad - on a Sunday.
No more singing about transvestites or slow, dragging melodies that while artistic, seemed to really miss with mainstream audiences (Wax Ecstatic).On this one, they truly hit the mark.
But anyway, the musicianship is top notch and so are the tunes.
Poor Sponge.
It is the one I like the least, and starting off with "1000 times" or "Radio Prayer Line" would have been much stronger in my humble opinion.
People who gave up on them should come back into the fold and listen to this great record.
Any fan of Matchbox 20, Fuel, Dig, Blink 182, or Eve 6 MUST pick this up - you are really missing out if you do not.I am angry that it took me so long to know this was out there and to buy it.In my opinion, they should have gone with a different album cover, and the album title is unfortunately misunderstood.
Pick it up immediately and enjoy.
You will be appreciated at some point--and you already are by a good number of fans.
Here's why:This is Sponge, baby--first of all. But comparable or "better" bands such as Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters and Stone Temple Pilots just don't get their acts together. Sponge, however, doesn't even like a lot of the biz and they sure don't like how things go down--the luck involved and the absence for the need of good musicianship/complete songs and albums. One, they know how and when to use guitar solos (open to 'when youre on fire baby roll' and 'pollyanna' as well as from their first album the two awesome solos in 'plowed' from their second album the intro and music throughout 'wax ecstatic')Second, boy can that guy Vinnie Dombrowski sing his you-know-what out, dang. It is complete and thorough and it is a slighty popish-sounding grunge album from one of today's elite gothic grunge rock talents. Not to mention his stage presence, which I'm sure you could care less about when cd hunting. Now that I got that out of the way, let me explain why I love both the band and the album. This is what they do--they fool around/screw around and make incomplete nothing records that rely on the radio/marketing to fuel the success of a piece of overall garbage.
Also, this album features the talented Joey Mazzola on guitar, the bands origional and fantastic-at-that lead guitarist.Furthermore, just give in to the obvious: this band is frickin' sweet. I listen to a ton of music and I love Grunge and it's similars. Bottom line, THIS IS A BAND THAT DOES THEIR HOMEWORK AND YOU WILL BE HAPPY WITH THIS CD. If you love this you will love Oleander's Unwind album.
Fast beats and a catchy tune is nothing to be overlooked."All American Girls" isn't too bad, but it seems to drag on a little bit too long as the album's longest song at over 5min. It has that funk rock sound with Vinnie blaring out some suave and tasty lyrics.For what "Disconnected" has to offer, it isn't too bad, but clearly not the best. "1000 Times" is probably the second best song with a somewhat Goo Goo Dolls type sound. Sure it's a pop/rock song, but it doesn't hurt the fact that it is a great song. Left behind 5 years prior to New Pop Sunday are the likes of "Plowed", the band's only hit to stand, although there were a few minor hits here and there. There are a few downers, but also some of the band's best. The lyrics are kind of bland though."When You're On Fire Baby" is probably the most closely related song to Wax Ecstatic. A very nice touch to the new sound the guys are making"Planet Girls" is a playful pop song as Vinnie sings the lyrics with aggression.
Obviously not like the previous 2 releases, but is unique. There is a pretty good guitar solo in here too.The title track "New Pop Sunday" actually isn't much of a pop song at all. With this album coming out in 1999, you would have no idea it existed unless a stumbling upon it in a rare occasion in a record store, or simply looking it up on amazon.com (formerly cdnow.com) and seeing that it was in the band's repitoire."My Lackluster Love" has a neverending line of 'la la's but it has the same twangy vibe as any good Sponge song."Polyanna" shows some fast guitar work from Joey with Vinny waling away at some good vocals.A surprisingly catchy, and very uplifting song appears with "Live Here Without You," one of all time favorite Sponge songs. The horns featured here remind me of a Mighty Mighty Bosstone song.Now "Lucky" is a great closer with a raw, somewhat out of tune guitar and that 'lucky lucky lucky' soft chant. The chorus is great, but the other fluff just seems too prolonged and stretched out.Another catchy tune is "Radio Prayer Line." The lyrics may not appeal to everyone, but the message is clear. Has a lazy, relaxed feel to it with a slow gradual buildup. There are traces left from Wax Ecstatic, but New Pop Sunday is more fresh and less experimental. Fan's of any late nineties rock including Oleander, Third Eye Blind, The Verve Pipe, Seven Mary Three, Collective Soul, Shades Apart, and Matchbox 20 should appeal to New Pop Sunday by Sponge.
This is a cd that will grow onto you. Get this album, I most recently was going over my cd collection and just rediscover this lost classic. Cool tracks to listen are "1000 times and Radio prayer line". My guess is why this cd never made it big was there was no room for rock airplay on the radio at the time due to all the over expose boy bands and pop stuff. Hey what a classic album title to go with that period.
But, such was not the case with the album.I would have given this album 2 or 3 stars, but I wanted to balance out the general consensus. But, it just comes off as mediocre radio rock. This album, however, sounds more like they are maybe enjoying their career as rock stars a little too much. I saw somebody posted on this site that this album was like late 70's rock in a 90's context and I would definitely agree with that. I love Sponge. I don't think they were as good as some of the other bands from their time, but they definitely have an original, authentic sound that they can call their own.I loved Pinata and I think Wax Ecstastic showed maturation and improvement of their skills. I read all the reviews on here before I bought the album and all of them were really good. So, if you like songs that are made to just make you feel good regardless of the truths of reality, there's a good chance you would like this album.
(hardly makes up for the songs, though)If you want to try downloading some of the tracks before you purchase the album I would say:My Lackluster Love - possibly best song on album (which is usually a bad sign)Disconnected - other good song on the album, the album sort of climaxes hereLive Here Without You - sounds like a tired Sponge. It's very possible that I'm biased towards happy, catchy jingles because my favorite band is NIN. worst song on album. Some of the first things that this album reminded me of were: Buckcherry, Dishwalla, and Our Lady Peace. I feel I can confidently claim that this is Sponge's worst album. The motives and vibes this album generate are geared towards the same sort of feel good, get drunk, don't pay too much attention to life attitude.
New Pop Sunday sounds less like Sponge and more like other rock bands that are on the radio now. Personally, I like Our Lady Peace, but I don't think they are as good as early Sponge.I'm assuming the album's intent was to write some catchy pop songs that would make people get up be like--Yeah. But, in my own defense, I DO love happy songs and stupid catchy little melodies, just as long as the passion is there.Good things about the album: I DID like Vinnie's new vocal tricks and he seems to have a bit more control over his vocal nuances, which are very interesting. listen to this if you want to hear the bottom.
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