It is SO difficult not to just turn out a string of superlative-laced babble when discussing the best Flying Nun bands...Sneaky Feelings, unlike their Dunedin friends The Chills, The Verlaines, the Stones, etc. were less influenced by The Velvet Underground than by the Byrds and Elvis Costello, and as such they placed a very high value on the art of songcraft. Their first LP, Send You (1984), is one of my favorite records ever, a great mix of the more song-oriented West Coast bands of the 60's with some guitar work that recalls Felt or Television. The strange thing about that record is that in 1992 Flying Nun released a CD version with three extra tracks that had been recorded in 1990. The even stranger thing is that they fit in seamlessly, making a truly great record even better. "Ready Or Not" is the only one of those three extra tracks not included on the Sneaky Feelings' anthology CD, Positively George Street. That also seems odd to me, as the intro alone makes me swoon, and I think it's one of the best things they've ever done.

Subsequent Sneaky Feelings releases showed them getting a bit more twee, relying perhaps less on hard-strummed rhythm guitar than on keyboards and such, and at the same time taking their melodies in a more effervescent direction. Our other Sneaky feelings track is "Wasted Time," the B-side of "Coming True" from the fine Sentimental Education LP; it hearkens back to their earlier sound.

All three of the Sneaky Feelings LPs are worth owning in their own right, including the 3rd, Hard Luck Stories. The anthology is the only CD currently in print, but Flying Nun seems to try to re-issue old catalog material every few years, so there's a good chance you'll be able to get the proper LPs in their original form at some point.

If you're not that familiar with the wonders of Flying Nun Records, or if you are, and you want to hear more, or basically if you've liked looking at Little Hits for any reason, I implore you to buy this. It's the album that introduced me to the label when it became the first FN record to be released in the US. It's still my favorite compilation ever.