Let The Monkey Drive
So, earlier this week I was given a chance to listen to the upcoming Sparks album, Exotic Creatures Of The Deep... and here is a review of sorts.
Some of you might have already heard the as-yet-unreleased first single, "Good Morning". If you liked it, the rest of the album is just as good - in some places even better. And presuming you haven't heard "Good Morning", here's the long version:
To a degree, Exotic Creatures Of The Deep continues the symphonic pop sound of Lil' Beethoven and Hello Young Lovers, but it brings in more & different elements into the sound - not only are there the symphonic elements and the rocky elements, but also weird electronic sounds, stuff that reminds me of 1920s and 30s jazz, and quite a lot of brilliant things I cannot think of a name for. And of course on the lyrical side there are the usual brilliant, witty, sarcastic, weird and sometimes politically incorrect lyrics that are in full force. "(She Got Me) Pregnant" is particularly brilliant on the lyrical side, while "Strange Animal" probably deserves an award for the weirdest lyrics ever.
Of individual tracks, the stand-outs for me were "Let The Monkey Drive" and "This Is The Renaissance". And "Lighten Up, Morrissey". And (She Got Me) Pregnant". And just about every other track. Except, I have to say, for "I've Never Been High" - which probably wouldn't be a bad track if it were on some other album, but in the middle of all these other brilliant tracks it does come across as a bit of a let-down.
Apart from the music, the representation on and of the album is rather brilliant. The tracklisting is tied together beautifully by - well, I don't actually want to spoil the surprise, so let's just say it's good and you'll probably be surprised the first time you hear the album in it's entirety. The title - in addition to being great - fits the sound on the album perfectly. The same can be said for the planned artwork (which I was also given a chance of seeing), which also has a visual gag tieing in to one of my favourite tracks. Apparently the plan is to have two different covers available, one with Ron and one with Russell.
Oddly enough, despite the title and artwork both working nicely with the music, they don't really work with each other. So there is a slight discrepancy (is that really a word?) in the visual representation of the album - and I can't help but think an album this great would deserve a more consistant representation. Unless of course there's a joke there I'm not getting - the more I think about it, the more likely it seems.
Summing it up, the album sounds like a combination of Hello Young Lovers, Indiscreet and Balls. And it's an album you simply cannot miss, so mark 19th May in your calendars now.
Some of you might have already heard the as-yet-unreleased first single, "Good Morning". If you liked it, the rest of the album is just as good - in some places even better. And presuming you haven't heard "Good Morning", here's the long version:
To a degree, Exotic Creatures Of The Deep continues the symphonic pop sound of Lil' Beethoven and Hello Young Lovers, but it brings in more & different elements into the sound - not only are there the symphonic elements and the rocky elements, but also weird electronic sounds, stuff that reminds me of 1920s and 30s jazz, and quite a lot of brilliant things I cannot think of a name for. And of course on the lyrical side there are the usual brilliant, witty, sarcastic, weird and sometimes politically incorrect lyrics that are in full force. "(She Got Me) Pregnant" is particularly brilliant on the lyrical side, while "Strange Animal" probably deserves an award for the weirdest lyrics ever.
Of individual tracks, the stand-outs for me were "Let The Monkey Drive" and "This Is The Renaissance". And "Lighten Up, Morrissey". And (She Got Me) Pregnant". And just about every other track. Except, I have to say, for "I've Never Been High" - which probably wouldn't be a bad track if it were on some other album, but in the middle of all these other brilliant tracks it does come across as a bit of a let-down.
Apart from the music, the representation on and of the album is rather brilliant. The tracklisting is tied together beautifully by - well, I don't actually want to spoil the surprise, so let's just say it's good and you'll probably be surprised the first time you hear the album in it's entirety. The title - in addition to being great - fits the sound on the album perfectly. The same can be said for the planned artwork (which I was also given a chance of seeing), which also has a visual gag tieing in to one of my favourite tracks. Apparently the plan is to have two different covers available, one with Ron and one with Russell.
Oddly enough, despite the title and artwork both working nicely with the music, they don't really work with each other. So there is a slight discrepancy (is that really a word?) in the visual representation of the album - and I can't help but think an album this great would deserve a more consistant representation. Unless of course there's a joke there I'm not getting - the more I think about it, the more likely it seems.
Summing it up, the album sounds like a combination of Hello Young Lovers, Indiscreet and Balls. And it's an album you simply cannot miss, so mark 19th May in your calendars now.