The Handsome Family | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Husband-and-wife duo the Handsome Family have been labeled both alt-country and traditionalist, but truthfully their often dark music lies in a unique space somewhere in between, blending the sounds of traditional country and bluegrass (and, especially, murder ballads) into a more modern scenery. Vocalist and composer Brett Sparks hails from Texas, where he studied music and briefly worked around the oil rigs. By the mid-90s, he resided in Chicago with his wife Rennie Sparks, a fiction writer originally from Long Island. Brett persuaded Rennie to write lyrics for him, leading to the unusual and striking form of the Handsome Familys songs -- evocative scenes and brief tales (of both the daydream and ghost-story varieties) in lieu of the standard verse-chorus-verse structure. The Handsome Familys debut album, entitled Odessa, was released in January 1995 on the independent label Carrot Top. This first home recording (all of the Handsome Familys albums are recorded in their living room) had slight punk shadings not heard on their subsequent albums. Odessa unfortunately made few waves except for some radio stations ban on the second song, "Arlene," which is about a woman who gets bludgeoned to death. The follow-up came in May of the following year, and the Handsome Family hit the road in support of their new release, Milk and Scissors, first touring the U.S. with Wilco, then heading on to Europe for shows in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. With Milk and Scissors, the duo had traded in their previous rock edges for more traditional country sounds. The resulting album won praise from the critics, got named in the Top Ten of 1996 by alt-country/Americana magazine No Depression, and was featured on John Peels BBC show. This was not, however, an easy period for the Handsome Family. Brett suffered an emotional breakdown during this time, which resulted in his hospitalization and diagnosis as manic-depressive. Through the Trees (Carrot Top, January 1998), the Handsome Familys third album, was written and recorded in the aftermath of these troubles. The raw, emotional quality of lyrics that deal with the darkness of everyday tragedy is delivered in Bretts deadpan baritone, often met by more traditional country sounds. With this recording, the Handsome Family came into their own sound and received widespread attention as a result. Through the Trees was named the best local release and in the Top Ten of 1998 by major Chicago papers, but the attention went far beyond the local press; the album received praise from major magazines, both online and in print. Through the Trees was featured on NPR and even named the Best New Country Album of the Year by Englands Uncut magazine, despite the albums overall untraditional sound. This was the Handsome Familys breakthrough album, which continued to increase in popularity over the next several years, allowing Brett and Rennie Sparks to quit their day jobs and focus on music full-time. Following the albums release, the duo began touring extensively, performing regularly in Europe and touring the U.S. twice -- once with the Mekons. On the wave of this success, two years later came the somewhat lighter and more natural sounds of In the Air (Carrot Top, 2000), with guest appearances by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and violinist Andrew Bird, formerly of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. The Handsome Family supported the release of their fourth album with a monthlong European tour followed by a tour along the West Coast of the U.S. A document of their sound at this time can be found on their 2002 release Live at Schubas Tavern, which was recorded at a December 2000 show in Chicago. The duo released Singing Bones in 2003, followed by Last Days of Wonder in 2006 and the uncharacteristically upbeat Honey Moon in 2009. The 2013 release Wilderness found the Handsome Family training their focus on the natural world. In 2014, the Handsome Family experienced an unexpected windfall when the song "Far Away from Any Road," from Singing Bones, was selected as the theme music for the acclaimed HBO drama series True Detective, giving the group a larger audience than they had ever experienced before. (The song was subsequently featured on an episode of The Simpsons, and Guns N Roses used it as the overture for a 2014 concert tour, which is the first thing the two groups have ever had in common.) In 2016, the Handsome Family released their 11th studio album, Unseen, through their own Milk & Scissors label. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 14 Title: Odessa Released: 1995-01-09 Tracks: 14 Duration: 47:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Heres Hopin (03:25) 2 Arlene (03:37) 3 Pony (03:13) 4 One Way Up (03:19) 5 Water Into Wine (03:12) 6 Giant Ant (03:30) 7 Everything That Rises Must Converge (02:50) 8 Gorilla (03:37) 9 The Last (03:36) 10 Claire Said (03:31) 11 Moving Furniture Around (03:03) 12 Big Bad Wolf (03:18) 13 She Awoke With a Jerk (04:19) 14 Happy Harvest (02:35) |
| Odessa : Allmusic album Review : The Handsome Familys first album certainly stands apart from their later work; at this point, the group still had a live drummer, they were playing more rock-oriented material (the noisy guitars on "Heres Hopin" and "One Way Up" would have sounded rather out of place on Through the Trees), and theres a bit more upfront humor than in their later work. The key phrase, however, is "a bit"; the creepy but amusing Freudianisms of "Pony," the drunkards hymn of "Water Into Wine," and the morning-after lament of "She Awoke With a Jerk" are witty enough, but theres a dark undertow that wavers between cynicism and hopelessness which allows these songs to sit side by side with the albums takes of murder ("Arlene"), urban alienation ("Moving Furniture Around"), and corrupted faith ("Everything That Rises Must Converge"). Brett Sparks plain but resonant Midwestern twang gives the songs on Odessa the ring of common truth, and he and Rennie Sparks had already established themselves as writers to be reckoned with, conjuring a lyrical voice that sounds homey and terribly alienated at the same time. Listening to Odessa today, its obvious the Handsome Family had a way to travel before they would create their strongest work, but its obvious they already had the talent and the ideas that would make them one of the most interesting and intelligent bands to emerge from Chicagos alt-country scene. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 14 Title: Milk and Scissors Released: 1996 Tracks: 12 Duration: 40:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Lake Geneva (03:11) 2 Winnebago Skeletons (04:13) 3 Drunk by Noon (02:51) 4 The House Carpenter (03:36) 5 The Dutch Boy (03:51) 6 The King Who Wouldn’t Smile (02:35) 7 Emily Shore 1819-1839 (04:34) 8 3-Legged Dog (04:34) 9 No.1 Country Song (03:35) 10 Amelia Earhart vs. the Dancing Bear (03:13) 11 Tin Foil (02:41) 12 Puddin’ Fingers (01:40) |
| Milk and Scissors : Allmusic album Review : On their second album, the Handsome Family began their retreat away from the scrappy, electric guitar-based sound of their debut, Odessa, and started to ease into the lovely but unnerving mix of Appalachian textures and 20th century despair that would become their calling card on Milk and Scissors. While "Winnebago Skeletons" and "The Dutch Boy" still feature amped-up guitars in all their noisy glory, most of the cuts reflect a more subdued approach, with acoustic guitars and subtle steel work dominating the proceedings. Despite embracing a less-abrasive style, Brett Sparks and his spouse and musical partner, Rennie Sparks, sure didnt sound any happier than they did on their debut; Milk and Scissors features a bit less in the way of dark humor and more simple darkness, reveling in bad judgment, cruel fate, heartbreak, and simple disappointment in all its shapes and sizes. Of course, the Handsome Familys gift is in making something beautiful and compelling out of such things, and there are a handful of great songs here, especially the darkly fanciful "Amelia Earhart vs. the Dancing Bear" and the oddly catchy "Drunk by Noon," but for the most part Milk and Scissors captures them in mid-stylistic shift, and they would be a lot more compelling when they arrived on the other side. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 14 Title: Through the Trees Released: 1998-01-26 Tracks: 28 Duration: 1:36:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Weightless Again (03:38) 2 My Sisters Tiny Hands (03:26) 3 Stalled (02:26) 4 Where the Birch Trees Lean (03:20) 5 Cathedrals (03:22) 6 Down in the Ground (02:43) 7 The Giant Of Illinois (03:03) 8 Down in the Valley of Hollow Logs (03:29) 9 I Fell (04:14) 10 The Woman Downstairs (04:47) 11 Last Night I Went Out Walking (04:24) 12 Bury Me Here (02:47) 13 My Ghost (02:26) 1 The Giant Of Illinois (03:03) 2 Cathedrals (03:22) 3 Down in the Ground (02:43) 4 Where the Birch Trees Lean (03:20) 5 Weightless Again (03:38) 6 Cathedrals (03:22) 7 The Giant Of Illinois (03:03) 8 I Fell (04:14) 9 The Woman Downstairs (04:47) 10 Last Night I Went Out Walking (04:24) 11 Cathedrals (03:22) 12 My Sisters Tiny Hands (03:26) 13 Weightless Again (03:38) 14 The Giant Of Illinois (03:03) 15 Down in the Ground (02:43) |
| Through the Trees : Allmusic album Review : Through the Trees was the Handsome Familys breakthrough album, garnering enough attention and sales that they were finally able to quit their day jobs and focus on music full-time. The group subsequently toured the U.S. and Europe, while critics on both sides of the Atlantic went nuts for the Sparks clever, brooding songs. With Through the Trees, the transitional phase heard on Milk and Scissors was complete and the duo emerged with a more defined style, delivery, and songcraft which became their trademark sound. Brett sings with a deeper resonance and phrases Rennies mini-stories more skillfully, while the occasional distorted guitar and harder-rocking tunes have been trimmed away, leaving a more consistent, stripped-down country feel. This album includes Rennies vocal debut (albeit in a self-conscious, exaggerated nasal twang) on "Down in the Ground"; "Cathedrals," a song originally heard on their limited-edition vinyl EP Invisible Hands (Carrot Top, 1997); and enduring crowd favorites "The Woman Downstairs" and "Weightless Again." It also includes guest Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. While the albums that followed were excellent, Through the Trees remains the Handsome Familys definitive album, and is a wonderful encapsulation of the myths and heartbroken tales that populate the dark, romantic world of Brett and Rennie Sparks. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 14 Title: In the Air Released: 2000-02 Tracks: 11 Duration: 37:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Don’t Be Scared (02:39) 2 The Sad Milkman (03:40) 3 In the Air (03:30) 4 A Beautiful Thing (03:39) 5 So Much Wine (03:48) 6 Up Falling Rock Hill (02:57) 7 Poor, Poor Lenore (03:41) 8 When That Helicopter Comes (02:32) 9 Grandmother Waits for You (03:50) 10 Lie Down (03:30) 11 My Beautiful Bride (03:17) |
| In the Air : Allmusic album Review : If their last album, Through the Trees, came to us from the darkness at the bottom of a well (or a liquor bottle), In the Air is the sound of the Handsome Family after they made it out of the depths and up onto the grass -- and are now adjusting to a less desperate life. Not to say that its sunny. Lyricist Rennie Sparks still presents us with dark and bloody tragedies, as well as whimsical fairytales about lonely, but hopeful figures. The difference between In the Air and the Handsome Familys last album seems to be the presence of a calm (as opposed to disturbed restraint) and a certain warmth pervading this album. Brett Sparks vocal delivery comes across as more relaxed and natural and in lieu of the occasional, creepy vocal effects used on the last album. The colorful, sad, and disturbed scenes are often delivered with a country flavor and a folk instrumentation, and include songs that are the rightful offspring of Appalachian murder ballads, such as "My Beautiful Bride" and "Up Falling Rock Hill," and southern hymns ("Never Grow Old"). The Handsome Familys songs are imbued with a tender romanticism and love of the fantastic -- and of a world that, for all its real twists and sadness, still holds moments of childlike wonder and magical possibilities. In the Air was recorded, as were their three previous albums, in the Handsome Family living room, this time with live percussion (provided by Brett) instead of a drum machine. Also heard are guest musicians Darrell Sparks, who sings backup and plays guitar on two songs, and violinist Andrew Bird (formerly of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, leader of his own roots music-based band) who contributes to "Poor, Poor Lenore," "Up Falling Rock Hill," and "When That Helicopter Comes," a hellfire and brimstone, foot-stomping number with a sparse, bluegrass delivery: "Its gonna rain champagne/and the hills are gonna dance... The sky will swim in lightning fire and the trees will shake and scream." | ||
 | Album: 5 of 14 Title: Twilight Released: 2001-10-01 Tracks: 13 Duration: 44:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Snow White Diner (04:01) 2 Passenger Pigeons (04:29) 3 A Dark Eye (03:53) 4 There Is a Sound (03:26) 5 All the TVs in Town (03:05) 6 Gravity (03:08) 7 Cold, Cold, Cold (03:10) 8 No One Fell Asleep Alone (02:48) 9 I Know You Are There (03:40) 10 Birds You Cannot See (02:53) 11 The White Dog (03:36) 12 So Long (03:31) 13 Peace in the Valley Once Again (03:03) |
| Twilight : Allmusic album Review : In the world of the Handsome Family, it would appear that the glass is half full. The only problem is that the glass is either upside down or shattered on the floor. Riddled with dark and morbid tales of suburbia, murder, and the demise of carrying pigeons, the bakers dozen offerings seem animal-oriented, but still teem with an eerie old-time country & western sense of foreboding. Although the first track, "The Snow White Diner," seems uplifting with its "Layla"-like intro, the album waltzes along with keyboards and basic bare-bones accompaniment. Particularly pretty is "All the TVs in Town" and the spacy background of "Gravity." There is also a sense of this being a dysfunctional Christmas album, exemplified by "Birds You Cannot See." The husband and wife team of Rennie Sparks on keyboards and singer Brett Sparks lead the listener down a lovely yet dark trail few would dare tread twice. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 14 Title: Smothered and Covered Released: 2002-07 Tracks: 18 Duration: 49:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Theres a City (03:12) 2 Sunday Morning Coming Down (04:48) 3 Prepared Piano #1 (01:29) 4 I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling (03:44) 5 Down in the Ground (demo) (02:30) 6 Cello #1 (01:00) 7 Trail of Time (03:12) 8 Faraway Eyes (04:26) 9 Knoxville Girl (04:03) 10 Prepared Piano #2 (01:04) 11 The Last (demo) (02:45) 12 Banks of the Ohio (03:26) 13 Cello #2 (01:15) 14 Natalie Wood (03:43) 15 #1 Country Song (demo) (03:35) 16 Prepared Piano #3 (00:45) 17 Stupid Bells (02:59) 18 The Weinermobile (00:58) |
 | Album: 7 of 14 Title: Live at Schubas Tavern Released: 2002-07-09 Tracks: 25 Duration: 1:05:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Amelia Earhart vs. The Dancing Bear (03:20) 2 The Good Toothpicks (00:17) 3 So Much Wine (03:56) 4 The Czar Bar (01:01) 5 Tinfoil (02:40) 6 A Beautiful Thing (03:44) 7 Vienna Sausages Hotline (00:53) 8 The Giant of Illinois (03:12) 9 My Sister’s Tiny Hands (03:18) 10 Names for All His Shirts (00:36) 11 Cathedrals (03:50) 12 Weightless Again (03:43) 13 Bony Bread (00:23) 14 Winnebago Skeletons (03:45) 15 Drunk by Noon (02:48) 16 Magic Balls (Introduction) (00:58) 17 The Sad Milkman (03:17) 18 Magic Balls (Conclusion) (02:06) 19 I Know You Are There (03:21) 20 Down in the Ground (03:10) 21 Arlene (03:45) 22 Moving Furniture Around (03:50) 23 Freebird (00:16) 24 My Ghost (02:43) 25 The Woman Downstairs (04:24) |
| Live at Schuba's Tavern : Allmusic album Review : This live recording documents a December 2000 show in Chicago during which the Handsome Family entertain, performing a good mix of material, drawing songs from all of their albums to date. The sound is decent and fans will definitely enjoy the teasing banter -- nine of the 25 tracks -- between Brett and Rennie Sparks and the random personal details that get revealed (the magic balls story is hilarious). Of the 14 songs, half are from Through the Trees, including the chokingly sad "So Much Wine," "Down in the Ground," the only song in the bands repertoire in which Rennie sings lead (albeit in an affected, old-lady-on-the-porch, nasally tone), the darkly incisive "Weightless Again," and another fan favorite, "The Woman Downstairs," which closes the show. Throughout the set are also heard a few songs each from In the Air and Milk and Scissors ("Winnebago Skeletons" falls apart, but "Amelia Earhart Vs. the Dancing Bear" and "Drunk By Noon" go well), two from Odessa ("Arlene" and "Moving Furniture Around"), and one that would end up on Twilight ("I Know You Are There," which Brett effectively delivers with a crooners tremolo). While not the place for newcomers to start, Live at Schubas Tavern is a good listen. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 14 Title: Singing Bones Released: 2003-10-06 Tracks: 13 Duration: 38:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The Forgotten Lake (03:46) 2 Gail With the Golden Hair (03:16) 3 24-Hour Store (04:52) 4 The Bottomless Hole (03:16) 5 Far From Any Road (02:48) 6 If the World Should End in Fire (01:09) 7 A Shadow Underneath (03:44) 8 Dry Bones (03:16) 9 Fallen Peaches (02:59) 10 Whitehaven (02:46) 11 Sleepy (03:08) 12 The Song of a Hundred Toads (02:28) 13 If the World Should End in Ice (01:08) |
| Singing Bones : Allmusic album Review : The Handsome Familys unique take on traditionalist country finds another fine platform on 2003s Singing Bones. Husband-and-wife team Brett and Rennie Sparks explore dusty, melancholic territory -- both musically and lyrically -- by combining a taste for rootsy, old-school country (for which Bretts resonant baritone is perfectly suited) with literate, evocative, image-rich lyrics. Singing Bones finds all these qualities in place. Scenes and characters float through vividly drawn settings ("24-Hour Store," "Whitehaven"), while the instrumentation, arrangements, and ambience conjure dark forests and backwoods ghosts. As old-world as the Handsome Family might seem, there is an incisive, contemporary sensibility to everything, from the gleaming production to the perfectly chosen words. Singing Bones once again proves again how the group can seamlessly bridge the gap between present and past. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 14 Title: The Big Session, Volume 1 Released: 2004-08 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:05:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 John Barleycorn (03:52) 2 Whitehaven (02:52) 3 Lowlands (04:40) 4 Country Life (05:22) 5 Fuse (04:39) 6 Ten Thousand Miles / Hungarian March (05:42) 7 The New Jerusalem (02:36) 8 When That Helicopter Comes (03:19) 9 The House Carpenter (03:33) 10 The Cuckoos Nest (05:28) 11 We Shall Come Home (04:42) 12 Love Will Tear Us Apart (03:42) 13 Factory Girl (06:31) 14 Country Life ("I Like to Rise") (05:18) 15 The Cornish Farewell Shanty (02:42) |
 | Album: 10 of 14 Title: Last Days of Wonder Released: 2006-05-29 Tracks: 12 Duration: 43:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Your Great Journey (03:13) 2 Tesla’s Hotel Room (03:56) 3 These Golden Jewels (03:32) 4 After We Shot the Grizzly (03:33) 5 Flapping Your Broken Wings (03:45) 6 Beautiful William (04:22) 7 All the Time in Airports (03:43) 8 White Lights (03:36) 9 Bowling Alley Bar (02:52) 10 Hunter Green (04:29) 11 Our Blue Sky (02:59) 12 Somewhere Else to Be (03:23) |
| Last Days of Wonder : Allmusic album Review : The Handsome Family (Rennie and Brett Sparks) cant ever seem to find it in them to pair lyrics like "When automatic sinks in airports no longer see your hands/Your great journey has begun" with music that reflects their desperate urban majesty. Last Days of Wonder, their seventh full-length collection of Midwest gothic country songs, does push the envelope a tad further than their previous six releases, as Brett has invented a myriad of new ways to manipulate his trusty home computer into a limitless extension of his own creativity, but even a musical saw can lose its backwoods luster when its being hauled on the caboose of a three-chord train to midtempo Americanaville. That said, the Handsome Familys adherence to highly literate contemporary heartbreak within an old-timey framework is what made them stand out from the crowded sea of young Gram Parsons converts in the first place -- actually, theyve always seemed more late-period Johnny Cash than Parsons -- so theyve more than earned the right to rest on their laurels a bit, but one cant help but think that just a little bit more spice might have elevated all of these beautiful ideas out of the trappings of their now painfully insular song structures. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 14 Title: Honey Moon Released: 2009-04-10 Tracks: 12 Duration: 44:52 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Linger, Let Me Linger (03:34) 2 Little Sparrows (03:08) 3 My Friend (04:56) 4 When You Whispered (03:11) 5 The Loneliness of Magnets (03:43) 6 June Bugs (03:38) 7 A Thousand Diamond Rings (03:40) 8 Love Is Like (03:21) 9 The Petrified Forest (04:11) 10 Wild Wood (03:10) 11 Darling, My Darling (03:39) 12 The Winding Corn Maze (04:35) |
| Honey Moon : Allmusic album Review : Since releasing their first album in 1995, Brett and Rennie Sparks of the Handsome Family have built a cottage industry out of creating some of the most charmingly morbid songs in contemporary music; death, despair, alcohol, broken dreams, and dashed hopes are common ingredients in their songs, leavened with dark wit and dressed up in lovely, austere melodies and close Appalachian-flavored harmonies. But with Brett and Rennie celebrating 20 years as husband and wife, they decided to try something a bit different for their eighth studio album, and 2009s Honey Moon is a collection of 12 non-ironic songs about love. If youre expecting that this is going to be a bit sunnier than the usual offering from the Handsome Family, youre right, but thats not to say that odd little clouds dont appear on the horizon. In "Little Sparrows," the literal lovebirds of the title are watching cars from a highway overpass, "A Thousand Diamond Rings" opens with a litany of urban detritus such as broken-down trucks and smashed windows, "Darling My Darling" is sung in the voice of an insect attempting to seduce a female of the species, and "The Loneliness of Magnets" uses elementary physics as a metaphor for romance. The Handsome Family arent exactly rewriting "You Light Up My Life" here, but theyre not rewriting their previous albums, either; Honey Moon is the duos most eclectic album to date, with Brett and Rennie cautiously embracing the sound of classic pop ballads ("Linger, Let Me Linger"), vintage R&B; ("My Friend"), Tin Pan Alley crooning ("The Loneliness of Magnets"), and electronic pop ("Love Is Like") along with the traditional country and folk influences. Despite the new textures, Honey Moon still sounds like the Handsome Family, but a version of the Handsome Family that hasnt abandoned the notion of hope, and by the time "The Winding Corn Maze" closes out the album, youre not entirely shocked that the protagonist actually finds who hes been looking for amidst the stalks. On first listen, anyone familiar with the Handsome Family will keep waiting for someone to die or go insane as if wondering when the shoe will drop, but ultimately Honey Moon proves they can ease into more optimistic surroundings and not lose touch with the strange and ethereal qualities that have made them worthwhile. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 14 Title: Scattered - A Further Collection of Lost Demos, Orphaned Songs, and Odd Covers Released: 2010 Tracks: 19 Duration: 1:03:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 The Lost Soul (03:22) 2 When it Rains (02:26) 3 Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues (05:39) 4 Snowball (02:17) 5 Aint No Grave (02:54) 6 Little Buddy (03:57) 7 Eleanor Rigby (02:46) 8 A Plague of Humans (03:01) 9 Famous Blue Raincoat (05:08) 10 Drinking Beer on the Roof (03:24) 11 Telephones and Telescopes (03:07) 12 Lost Highway (03:00) 13 Honcho (01:59) 14 The Blizzard (03:32) 15 What does the Deep Sea Say? (03:37) 16 Tranquilized (02:56) 17 June Bugs (alternate mix) (03:37) 18 One Way Up (4-track demo) (02:38) 19 Claire Said (rehearsal tape) (04:30) |
 | Album: 13 of 14 Title: Wilderness Released: 2013-05-14 Tracks: 12 Duration: 52:42 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Flies (03:41) 2 Frogs (04:41) 3 Eels (04:25) 4 Octopus (03:33) 5 Owls (03:59) 6 Caterpillars (04:42) 7 Glow Worm (05:33) 8 Lizard (05:12) 9 Woodpecker (04:22) 10 Gulls (04:20) 11 Spider (03:54) 12 Wildebeest (04:20) |
| Wilderness : Allmusic album Review : Wilderness, the tenth long-player from the New Mexico-based husband-and-wife team of Brett and Rennie Sparks (the Handsome Family) lives up to its ecological moniker with a 12-track set that invokes both nature and nurture, with an emphasis on the shady bits in between. Once again, Brett handles the melody side of things while Rennie conjures up the stories, and oh what diabolical tales they are. Each song is named for a beast, bird, amphibian, reptile, or insect, and like a Kafka short story or a Michael Sowa painting, they occupy that strange, ill-defined moment between a particularly vivid dream and the cruel bleat of the alarm clock. Standout cuts like the galloping, Beatlesque "Octopus," the funereal "Glow Worm," and the remarkably affecting "Wildebeest," the latter of which compares the death of Stephen Foster, the oft-cited father of American music, who bashed his head against a water basin in a fit of fever and later died from infection, to a crocodile-savaged "wildebeest gone crazy with thirst pulled down as he tried to drink," feel less like the warm, composed, bedroom country-folk hymns that they are and more like the vision quest-induced fever dreams of a modern day Carlos Castaneda chasing a particularly elusive spirit animal. | ||
 | Album: 14 of 14 Title: Unseen Released: 2016-09-16 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:07:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Gold (04:00) 2 The Silver Light (03:51) 3 Back in My Day (03:30) 4 Tiny Tina (04:10) 5 Underneath the Falls (04:13) 6 The Sea Rose (03:41) 7 The Red Door (05:14) 8 Gentlemen (03:48) 9 King of Dust (05:06) 10 Green Willow Valley (04:33) 1 Weightless Again (03:40) 2 So Much Wine (03:50) 3 Cold, Cold, Cold (03:13) 4 Far From Any Road (02:50) 5 After We Shot the Grizzly (03:35) 6 The Loneliness of Magnets (03:45) 7 Woodpecker (04:22) |
| Unseen : Allmusic album Review : We live in a fallen world, and Brett Sparks has devoted his life to documenting the sadness and disappointment that is our lot in life. Or at least his lot in life; when the Handsome Family, the musical project Sparks leads with his wife, Rennie Sparks, recorded an album of love songs (2009s Honey Moon), he still found ways to make the experience sound dour and slightly puzzling. The less joyous experiences that dominate 2016s Unseen, the duos 11th studio album, hardly give Sparks much cause for a happier tone. In short, the Handsome Family have once again presented us with a handful of sketches from lifes gloomy side, but if Brett Sparks is no Mary Sunshine, he remains a uniquely talented songwriter, and Unseen finds hes working near the top of his game. Sparks is a splendid storyteller with a grand sense of the significant detail; you can almost feel the bullet in the gut of the luckless thief in "Gold," the heartburn from the greasy casino buffet in "The Silver Light," and the mingled skepticism and wonder as he peruses a circus sideshow in "Tiny Tina." Sparks even imagines a time when the recent past seemed like a golden age in "Back in My Day," declaring, "We had maps that unfolded back in my day/You could drink from the river, we had gods made of clay." Sparks craggy voice has always been a good match for his songs, but his vocals are more agile here than on most of his previous work, and if Rennie comes in for harmonies less often these days, she makes her mark when she does. And the implacable rock & roll piano on "The Red Door," the parlor jazz guitars of "The Silver Light," and the gothic moods of "Gentlemen" show this group is capable of more than bummed-out vintage Americana. The Handsome Family have never been especially prolific, but they can be counted on to deliver something special when they do introduce a new album, and Unseen may not cheer you up, but it will compel and fascinate anyone with an appetite for great songwriting. | ||