Form Of Play: A Retrospective

Following on from our reissue work with The Bangles, Game Theory, and Jellyfish, Omnivore Recordings is proud to present the first-ever career overview of ’80s/’90s alt-pop mavericks The Sneetches. Described by Trouser Press as “one of the most tasteful, consistentlytuneful pop bands on the American scene,” Form Of Play: A Retrospective is a compendium of the best moments from this Anglo-American outfits three albums and various singles and compilation appearances. The Sneetches were formed in San Francisco in 1985 by Mike Levy and Matt Carges, punk veterans who now preferred to indulge their love of pop and melody, initially as a studio project. In the era of grunge and hardcore, the musician’s heroes constituted The Zombies, Easybeats, Monochrome Set, Nilsson and others, as Levy’s songwriting proffered a similar bittersweet blend of musical melody and lyrical misanthropy. With the addition of Englishmen Daniel Swan (in 1986) and Alec Palao (in 1988), the line-up was complete and began to play around the Bay Area. Appropriately, their debut release, the mini-LP Lights Out! recorded by Levy and Carges, was also issued in the U.K. While that record was a rough and ready indie production, The Sneetches’ subsequent albums Sometimes That’s All We Have and Slow were expertly-produced, carefully-nuanced collections that gained the players notices home and abroad. Several tours of the U.S. along with visits to Europe and Japan in the early 1990s, along with live and studio collaborations with the Shoes and Flamin’ Groovies, cemented the band’s reputation as idiosyncratic powerpop of the highest order. The band’s final release was Blow Out The Sun in 1994. With a playlist handpicked by the band themselves, Form Of Play draws on the group’s recordings for Creation, Alias, Bus Stop, spinART, and other labels, with rare mixes and five previously unreleased cuts. The fully remastered set is illustrated with unseen photos and comes with a personalized liner note by Grammy®-nominated producer Palao, who also oversaw the assembly of the compilation.