Sparks
MAD!
★★★★
TRANSGRESSIVE
Pop’s rainbow would be significantly less colourful without Sparks. Sibling rivalry’s cooperative and prolific inverse, Ron and Russell continue to concoct songs that are distinctively, resolutely Mael. On MAD!, synth-pop, art-rock and a programmed Shostakovich vibe (see paean to Californian interstate highway I-405 Rules) all feed into their skewed, self-contained universe, the arrangements as unpredictable as the subject matter.
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READ MORE: Sparks’ Best Albums Ranked!
Who else but Ron would write In Daylight, its magic unspooling from the simple notion that “Everybody looks great at night”, and what 76-year-old but Russell could pilot mission statement Do Things My Own Way with such a hale and hearty countertenor? As ever it’s the small details they alight upon which resonate, hence JanSport Backpack, simultaneously a comment upon herd-like brand ubiquity, and what the song’s protagonist sees each time his lover retreats.
MAD! is out May 23 on Transgressive.
ORDER: Amazon | Rough Trade | HMV
Track Listing:
Do Things My Own Way
JanSport Backpack
Hit Me, Baby
Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab
My Devotion
Don't Dog It
In Daylight
I-405
A Long Red Light
Drowned In A Sea Of Tears
A Little Bit Of Light Banter
Lord Have Mercy
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