Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow is the long lost third album by Sorrows the late 70's early 80's New York band and not the Joe Meek produced band The Sorrows. Recorded in one day back in 1981 and finally getting released now in 2025 so that Arthur Alexander, Jett Harris, Joey Cola and Rick Street can finally enjoy the plaudits that should have been there's way back in the early 80's, when they spent the night at Media Sound Studios, with Mark Milchman producing them again, as he had on the band's debut album. Sadly at the time record company difficulties buried this album and truncated the bands career.
The album opens with the second song I've reviewed this month titled Never Mind and this is the one I want to hear over and over more than The Rishi's one. A ballsy Rock & Roll power pop gem, the guitars weave together, forceful vocals and that devil may care attitude, to keep on keeping on no matter what anyone says or does to you.
They then cover Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadows in a full on amphetamine rush rave up, with a slight country twang to the solos nailing this anthem.
What A Good Boy! Could be a long lost follow up to Kevin Coyne's Good Boy, this is more succinct than that and has some cool phased guitars with an incessant beat.
Out Of My Head and they are still in love with that girl, even if she doesn't appreciate the attention, they are in a hurry to spill their hearts and cover her in gloriously upbeat pop rock.
Let Me Know is super speedy Rockabilly with some very Beatlesque backing vocals, this is hard bopping for that one last chance you'll let her have.
Kiss You Later almost feels like the missing link between Nick Lowe and Robert Gordon, a total classic sound on a song that sounds familiar even if you've never heard it before.
Slo' Surfin' is laid back wave after wave of exquisite guitars, over a steady as she goes beat, they keep on riding that wave.
Cricket Man is a tribute to the then recently murdered John Lennon, full of musical and lyrical references to John and that terrible day outside the Dakota Building, trying to make sense of a most senseless act.
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Just One Fool To Blame has a very new wave bassline and approach for this break up song, with bitter recriminations never far away.
That's Your Problem tells her like it is and how it's gonna be, if you wanna be with him, over searing seedy rock and roll.
Too Much Love is what they claim they have over a soft psychedelic pop backing.
They have a great rave up through Something Else, getting to Eddie Cochran's spirit and hamming it up while never forgetting to really wail.
Love Ain't Nothing (Without you) lives up to the title, a bruised heartbreaker of a power pop banger, that you'll be singing along to in no time at all, even if the middle eight goes a bit Shaking Stevens, when the guitars come back in they fly off in a far more new wave direction.
The album closes with the bittersweet cover of You Don't Own Me that would be dedicated to Pavilion the bands original record label and management, this is played fast and loose, with a cool louche edge, they lay down exactly why they want to be their own men and go all heartbreakers on the guitar solos.
Find out more at https://orcd.co/sorrows-parting https://bigstirrecords.com/sorrows?ffm=FFM_f0ff5db57988d2770c2684e165c526b9 https://bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com/album/parting-is-such-sweet-sorrow https://www.facebook.com/SORROWSnyc
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