SPARKS

EN

Brothers Ron (°1945) and Russell (°1948) Mael of The Sparks are almost 80 but since their formation in 1966 (until 1971 they were called Halfnelson) they have continued to amaze with strong albums in a mix of glam rock, art rock and (later) new wave. Remember their biggest hit "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us" from 1974, which is stuck in the collective memory. It's now 50 years later and the brothers from Los Angeles are still doing it!

What really appeals to me about Sparks is that they don't just rehash their illustrious past (they could get away with it perfectly) but that they still evolve musically and remain innovative. For example, the new album “The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte” (14 tracks, 47 minutes playing time) is undeniably influenced by 'minimal' and we do not so much mean minimal wave but the minimal music of Philip Glass, Michael Nyman and the like. Influences that come into their own in songs like “Escalator”, “Veronica Lake”, “You Were Meant For Me”, “We Go Dancing” and “It's Sunny Today”. What has always remained throughout their long musical career is the neurotic streak in their music and their sometimes somewhat absurd but always intelligent lyrics. And in terms of sound they fit seamlessly with contemporary art rock, indie rock, synth pop or electro pop of the slightly more experimental kind.

The new album also contains fantastic songs such as the great title song “The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte”, the quite heavy, glam rock tinged “Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is” (my second favourite) and further beautiful songs such as “ The Mona Lisa's Packing, Leaving Late Tonight”, “Not That Well-Defined” and “Take Me For A Ride”.

Ron Mael is responsible for all keyboards on the album, little brother Russell Mael for all vocals and they are supported by four guest musicians on guitar, bass and drums.

And for those who can't get enough of it: other relatively recent albums by the brothers that we can recommend are “Hello Young Lovers” (2006), “Exotic Creatures Of The Deep” (2008), “Hippopotamus” (2017) and “A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip” (2020). And then of course there are the classics from the 70s, the most important being the album “Kimono My House” (1974) with the well-known "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us" as opener.

Henk VEREECKEN
17/01/2024

---

NL

U kan de Nederlanstalige versie van deze review HIER nalezen bij onze collega's van Dark Entries Magazine!

Henk VEREECKEN
17/01/2024

---