REVIEWS

"And we tried to be someone we couldn't be," Alex Sharkey sings during the first proper song on Pinkie's debut full-length Sharon Fussy. That theme, of who we are and who we act like we are, is central to the album, which is filled with melancholy pop songs that are generally in the vein of groups like Brighter (of which Sharkey was bassist), their offspring Harper Lee, the Field Mice, and their offspring Trembling Blue Stars. Think of that as the starting-off point, but don't let those references be all you take from this review, as Sharon Fussy is a really beautiful, complex work that should be taken on its own. Pinkie is a one-man band that doesn't sound like one. The album does has a solitary feeling, but it's also quite lush, with guitars and drum machines and synthesizers and other instruments blending together for soft, pretty textures to calmly boost the splendid, sad melodies. Sharon Fussy is filled with a questioning of identity - every thought and feeling seems to carry with it the question 'what's making me act this way?' There's a real longing for understanding, to be understood and to understood. The front cover photo shows a woman dancing and smiling; the back cover reveals that she's acting in a play. The songs are about this same issue, of where our happiness and sadness come from, of how we know what's really going on within us, who we really are versus who we're trying to be or who we're expected to be. - dave heaton

Alex Sharkey (aka Pinkie) used to play guitar in Sarah Records fave Brighter, so it comes as no surprise that this album is filled with watery / pastoral pop songs. The introspective lyrics revolving around relationships, memories, loss and hope also seem rather familiar. Yet while the sound and topics may be familiar, they're familiar like an old friend you haven't heard from in ages and then spend the day talking to as if no time had passed since you last talked.

The sound of seagulls and waves bookend the 12 songs that make up 'Sharon Fussy' and one can easily imagine that these songs were born from walks along the beach. Not a warm, sunny, tropical sort of beach, but those classically overcast, somewhat dreary British beaches where the mist and dampness not only let thoughts soak into your soul, but they cleanse away the confusion and angst that led you to the beach in the first place. That conflict with confusion is present on 'Someone I'll Never Be' and I can't help but get the image of Jimmy from 'Quadrophenia' in my head when I listen to this song (album). Down in Brighton once again. Realizing that the act was just that. Not really sure what happens next. Not sure who he was or who he really is.

'Say after Me', 'Long Live Dreams', and 'Want It to Work This Time' are all gentle songs that yearn for love to win out over fear and doubt. Nice female backing vocals add a sense of softness and warmth to "Say after Me' and 'Want It to Work This Time' that make you want to curl up and sleep for a spell just so everything will stay perfect for a little while.

The piano in 'Who Is It Now?' gives the song a sense of tension and the horns add a touch of despair. This is the quiet break down. The realization that things aren't as they should be. That what once seemed so real, has dissolved and vanished into thin air. This theme continues in 'Just Pretend' but now it's a plea to carry on the lie / the act with full knowledge of the situation - "You don't have to be my friend, but just pretend...."

'Adelaine' begins with the crackling sound of an old record - "it couldn't be that way again, I know it never could". While not entirely upbeat, there is a sense of hope in this song. The strings are uplifiting and the drums have a new found energy and shuffle. 'There's Always Sometimes' wraps everything up neatly. The dreams that didn't come true. The despair and confusion that followed. And the realization that not only is all not lost but that a new direction has been found.

On this album Alex Sharkey has managed to remind me of those fabulous pop songs of the Sarah Records era, the confusion of youth (and mid-life too), and one of my favourite movies 'Quadrophenia'. This album doesn't have the dynamics nor musical scope of the Who's classic and I doubt Sharkey was even trying for something like that. what it does have though is well crafted pop songs and its own story to tell. - Chris Jones

Cosmik/ November 4, 2004

I admit it I was distracted by the cover. I was more than distracted; I was ready to break with proverbial wisdom and not like the album because my immediate impression was that this was the offshoot of some bad Norwegian musical about a repressed housemaid named Sharon Fussy.

What I found surprised me, and now, in spite of the cover, I'd say that Pinkie's Sharon Fussy has rocketed to the top of my "Favorite Unexpected Album List." The fourteen songs form a line of atmospheric Beatles pop, drawing favorable comparisons to the "Good Day Sunshine" era, when everything was alright, but not quite. One moment into "Something I'll Never Be" is enough to send most listeners into a fawning palace of psychedelic reconciliation. It's a cinematic endeavor and on Sharon Fussy, every scene plays out like the last in "Lost In Translation."

Pinkie might have done better with album cover art, but right now, I'm doe-eyed and thinking back in mournful bliss about some long past time and can't muster up anything else critical to say. - Eric Mertz

Punk Planet Issue #64 (November and December 2004)

Pinkie - Sharon Fussy, CD

Featuring subtle string and key arrangements, jangly guitar, personal lyrics and Alex Sharkey's soothing vocals, this album is reminiscent of The Byrds, and Britpop greats Pulp's most recent, more subdued work.  The first full-length from this one-man band is melancholy, melodic music that will please any pop fan.  (LW) 

Amplifier Magazine Issue #45 (November and December 2004)

Pinkie - Sharon Fussy (Planting Seeds)

When you're sad, every moment seems drawn into an endless loop of self-sustaining melancholy.  It's not the draining cloud of depression or the despair of hopelessness; it's a pervasive sense of ennui and a nagging unhappiness.  Alex Sharkey must know the feeling well because he's captured its essence on his debut full length under his project name Pinkie.  the former Brighter/Hal guitarist shapes a wealth of texture and mood on Sharon Fussy, but the one ingredient he seems to have neglected was just a dash of diversity, which would have brightened these songs considerably.  Clearly, Sharkey wants to impart a certain bleakness and his songs are champions at that, particularly the Andy Partridge piano popping dirge of "Want It To Work This Time" and the Cale/Eno atmospheric electropop of "Long Live Dreams."  The problem comes when Sharkey locks his songs into a melodic pattern and then applies the same ethic to the majority of his songs.  In many ways Pinkie is Sharkey's blend of the acoustic folk soul of Brighter married to the chilly electronic pop of Hal, and the potential to be phenomenal if he can just slip in a little more sonic drama on the next go round.  - Brian Baker

www.Smother.net Posted November 5, 2004

Pinkie - Sharon Fussy (Planting Seeds)

Pinkie is the work of Alex Sharkey. He blends harmony and soundscaping with the angular guitar rock of the ‘80s. If you could imagine the R.E.M. guitar work against a magnificent orchestrated backdrop and melodic vocals, you’d have an idea where to start with Pinkie. There’s plenty of great catchy hooks to get stuck on like a worm on a hook (excuse the pun) but you’ll come back for more because of the dynamite production and clarity of sound.

More Reviews to check out:

Popmatters, Splendid, Babysue, Tasty (UK), Left Off The Dial, One Chord To Another (Finland).  

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