"It's not the way I want to be, but don't give in 'cause that's just me."
Sarah Records was one of the most distinctive and homogeneous labels to emerge out of the ashes of the original Post-Punk movement. Dealing primarily in a wispy brand of Jangle-Pop later referred to as Twee-Pop, on a cursory listen, the Sarah stable of artists can sound a bit samey, but for those with ears fine-tuned for subtleties, the label offers a diverse array of what might be best described as shoegazer-folk. While Sarah bands such as The Field Mice and Heavenly issued some fine LPs, many feel the true legacy of this now-defunct label are the compilations due to the fact that many of the bands associated with Sarah were primarily, if not exclusively, singles bands. One of the best of these compilations is Glass Arcade, which features a number of tracks from some short-lived, but no less aesthetically pleasing, bands. For example, "Sleep" and "Breathe" by Eternal, a band whose lifespan appears to have lasted the duration of a lone single, offer a darker, grittier take on the Sarah sound, which begs the question, why no more? Of course, Glass Arcade is also stocked with standout tracks from more prolific bands such as The Field Mice, but the album's finest moment is Another Sunny Day's "Rio," a shimmering jewel of a song that likely taught Belle and Sebastian a thing or two.
