Album · The Sundays
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic by The Sundays
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic is an album by The Sundays, released in 1990. 2 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 61 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Here's Where The Story Ends”, on 56 lists with a best position of #3.
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, the Sundays' debut, came out in 1990 on Rough Trade in the UK and DGC in the US, and its title is a pun on the band's hometown, Reading, in Berkshire. It's a record of shimmering, jangly guitar pop with a dreamy streak, so light on its feet you'd swear it might float away.
The guitars ring and chime like church bells heard from across a field, the rhythm section keeps a soft, steady pulse, and the vocals are the real marvel: pure, crystalline and wistful, swooping up into high notes with the ease of a bird catching a breeze. "Here's Where the Story Ends" is the one everyone remembers, a gentle, sighing tune with a sting of regret, and "Can't Be Sure" spins its dreamy melody into something quietly insistent. Blind followed.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Reading, Writing and Arithmetic on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Here's Where The Story Ends | 56 | #3 | – | 1990–2025 | |
| 2 | Can't Be Sure | 5 | #1 | 1 | 1989–2000 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.