The Sneetches’ official debut album — 1988′s Lights out with the Sneetches had been a set of two-person demos recorded by singer/songwriters Matt Carges and Mike Levy — 1989′s Sometimes That’s All We Have, is a glorious blend of post-punk attitude (new drummer Daniel Swan had been a founding member of the second-string U.K. punks the Cortinas, best known for their classic 1978 single “Defiant Pose”) and ’60s-inspired pop songcraft. Carges and Levy’s overdubbed harmonies blend beautifully (especially on the absolutely transcendent title track, which builds to a climax as intricate and gorgeous as anything on Pet Sounds), their occasionally odd lyrics (can’t beat a really pretty ballad with a title and chorus like “Another Shitty Day”) amuse and perplex, and the folk-rock base of their jangle poppy tunes puts them on a lead to become, at long last, the Bay Area’s successors to the Autumn Records glory days of the Beau Brummels, the Mojo Men, and the Tikis. This is a masterful album highly recommended to all fans of the style. Sometimes That’s All We Have was reissued in the U.K. on Creation Records in 1990 in a slightly different package but with the same songs. – Stewart Mason
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