“All Vocals: Russell Mael” reads a credit on the booklet back of the twenty-first album by Sparks; and I don’t think anybody, not even the folks applauding this record, appreciates what a breathtaking accomplishment that is. Russell (the cute one) used this one-man choir approach on the last two albums and 2006’s “Hello Young Lovers” remains a must-buy; but here, bolstered by the electronic orchestrations of brother Ron (the creepy one), he lays down overlapped emotional shadings not heard before. When Russell urges “Lighten Up Morrissey” (who in real life loves the lads, and they he), his anxiety persona merges with his indignant one on the verses, setting up chorus vowel movements slicing like shrapnel.
Sparks is still Sparks, so you get a lot of meta-level humor like “I Can’t Believe That You Would Fall For All The Crap In This Song.” They aren’t afraid to turn that fluoroscope on their own innards though; the “Strange Animal” crawls inside the tune that carries his name long enough to sniff at the Mael’s arid aesthetics before polishing off the brothers—who pop right back up again to finish the record.
A meandering thesis appears over the long course—love, not lost exactly, but barely glimpsed, chased, interspersed with existential longing (“I’ve Never Been High” spends its length wondering what’s missing in the lives of all its singers), and finally dismissed with a hint of sour-grapes grumping (“I don’t care if you love me/Just so you like me…”). From a band noted in its salad days for sophomoric sexism, that’s progress. (So is the female drummer.) Just don’t listen for them to bliss out any time soon. Even if they did, Ron would find one part of the harmony for sly asides.
– Andrew Hamlin
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