SPARKS

Oscar · Power Groupie Joined: 10 Oct 2002 Posts: 413

First of all, want to say that I've really been enjoying Alex's recollections of purchasing each of these albums. Been a while since I've felt the excitement of actually venturing out to a store to buy a physical copy of an album on release day, and these posts take me back to those days and ALSO take me back to the few times I've visited the UK (though I've never been to Scotland), which were great times.

I love Whomp, but I do think the first side is quite a bit better than the second. Everything from Tips for Teens through I Married a Martian is amazing. On side 2, Suzie Safety is the only one I like as much as the stuff on side 1. I love that intro -- it's got that kind of seductive melancholy vibe that comes back on Sherlock Holmes and Instant Weight Loss. Also some nice acoustic piano, which is also put to good use on I Married a Martian.

"Where's My Girl?" was the big sleeper hit from this album for me. Somehow it barely registered with me the first several times I listened to the album. Then some time later I listened again and was blown away. Cool chord progression, excellent falsetto from Russell, brilliant instrumental break, hilarious lyrics -- everything you could want in a Sparks song. That's my #1 pick here. I'd love to hear it live.

7/10

waterloosunset · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2023 10:12 pm Post subject:

phdave that afternoon · Certified Fan Joined: 01 Jul 2023 Posts: 71

I think I've listened to this enough to give comments. This album makes me very happy, especially after the previous album was so non-Sparks lyrically. All of the songs on Whomp are recognizably Sparks lyrically. And all of them are very catchy tunes, even the two I don't like as much as the others (Willies and Don't Shoot). Tips for Teens is in my top 5 Sparks songs of all time (so far). I heard Funny Face before doing this album deep dive and enjoy it a lot.

New songs for me that I really like are basically the rest of them. They are all enjoyably weird/funny in different ways. The whole thing is a dead-center Sparks album.

I'll rate it 7/10. Would like to hear an all woman rock/punk band do a cover of Wacky Women. Maybe one already has. Go Go's? L7 or Sleater Kinney would also qualify. Wacky Women is my choice for seeing them do live, mainly to watch Russell make muscles.
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Toughest Girl In Town · Sparks Guru Joined: 15 Feb 2022 Posts: 3840

It usually takes me 3 to 4 (focused) listens before I can sing along to a full album I'm discovering, but Whomp was very different. Took me a lot more before I even could remember each tune when playing it again. Not sure why, maybe its songs are more complex or surprising, therefore harder to memorize, don't know.
I wasn't a great fan of this one at first, and then it grew on me over time when I started to pay attention to those great lyrics. Ron's sense of humour is just brilliant on this one, I just love every word he wrote for this album. And it was such a huge improvement compared to the previous one that I had to appreciate that at least!

(come on, let's be honest, we all imagined Russell wearing a gown while "doing swan lake all over the place" haven't we)

My favourite song is definitely "Don't shoot me", which I think has a great hard-rock potential for a cover. We don't hear the guitar much on this track, and it's a shame.

My least favourite one is "Suzie Safety", but even this one never fails to make me smile each time, so it's not that bad :)

6,5/10 for me.

Buckeye Randy · Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2023 4:00 am Post subject:

Whatever the reason, I've had a little difficulty with the repeated listenings this week. Maybe it's the hangover from Terminal Jive or maybe it's the cumulative effect of this weekly exercise of album listening. I've certainly never listened to more Sparks music than I have the last 10 weeks!

For me, this musical direction fits the band. The new wave style of music that was gaining popularity in 1981 is quirky and quirky is one of Sparks' defining traits. Fits like a glove.

I think Tips For Teens is the only top shelf song from this release.

A good seed is planted but overall performance/chemistry is not quite there.

5/10
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PeterE · Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2023 5:28 am Post subject:

the album was fresh, when I moved from Cologne to Berlin
in April 81 ... at that time for me it was the perfect Sparks
album after the dissapointing Terminal Jive ...
Upstairs had a Devo vibe, still like this a lot ... "The Willy´s"
was great music- and lyricwise

highersynth · Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2023 6:52 am Post subject:

Whomp has taken the week to grow on me. When I first listened I didn't much enjoy any of the tracks between Where's My Girl and Whacky Women. Listening to the "All You Ever Think About" Podcast has certainly contributed to my appreciation of the intervening tracks, and I can happily now enjoy the entire thing.
The tracks I least enjoy are "I Married a Martian" - it just doesn't capture my interest - The Willys, which is plan annoying and Suzie Safety is meh.

I love the "Sparksness" of Tips for Teens and "Where's my Girl", and the story in Funny Face. Whacky Women is just - well, whacky, but in a good way.

Am I the only person who simply cannot hear the vocal of Nastassia as Russell? I know he's credited as lead vocals (obvs) but it struck me that if it were Les Bohem singing that it would be a very Sparksian joke - "that's not Russell... That's Russell!"

That's it from me for this one - overall I think about 6/10.
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waterloosunset · Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2023 8:57 pm Post subject:

Had I been a Sparks fan from the beginning, I probably would have quit listening to them after Terminal Jive, which would have been a shame. I like Whomp That Sucker. As a whole, unlike many American fans (Buckeye Randy excluded), I don’t rave about their ‘80s music, but much of this album is fun to listen to. The only song that I elevate to Ron-oddball-genius category is Tips for Teens. What a way to start an album! Especially compared to the wimpiness of Terminal Jive. It’s the kind of song that I want to blast in my car with the windows rolled down so that an undeserving and unappreciative public can hear it. Two of my other favorites are ones that few here seem to like (The Willys and Suzie Safety). I like (don’t love) Funny Face, Upstairs, and Don’t Shoot Me. I’m fine with everything else except for I Married a Martian. I think this song should be funny, but lyrically it sounds to me as if a 13-year-old had written it. With the exception of the fabulous intro, the melody doesn’t do much, either. All in all, Whomp sets them in the right direction for a while, and Russell has been forced to eat his words from the TJ period about never needing or wanting a band again. The former Bates Motel sound really tight and right for Sparks.

Favorite Track: Tips for Teens
Least Favorite Track: I Married a Martian
Album Score: 6/10
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highersynth · Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 4:11 am Post subject:

highersynth · Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 4:21 am Post subject:

Welcome to Week 11 of Album Club - w/c 17th September - Angst in my Pants

You can find a link to the album on Spotify here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/7eMZ934Zpj7TrFsEhajh7q?si=Nlu2nZJ3RLyeDrCfaPlCcg

Prompts for discussion, if needed, and scores for previous albums, at the top of the thread.
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Buckeye Randy · Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 8:32 am Post subject:

Finally, I'm hearing Sparks songs on the radio. Both 'Angst' and 'Predict' out there for everybody to hear albeit college radio stations...it doesn't matter. An appearance on Saturday Night Live, are you kidding me?

I'll never forget the show at the Cleveland Agora. We waited outside with hundreds of other fans anticipating the doors to open, it was surreal actually talking with other fans. Mrs. Buckeye and I met some of the guys after the show and we got an autographed ticket stub by Ron & Russel. Bob Haag would only sign the back, he said I would thank him someday! Little did I know it was possibly their last Cleveland appearance...ever! They haven't been back since. (I don't count them opening for Rick Springfield later that year)

The album? Half the songs are top shelf, best albums since the glam trilogy.

Favorites; Angst, Predict, Sextown, Monster of Love. I fell in love with Sherlock Holmes years later after hearing the Two Hands version.

All the key holes lined up and the universes were aligned. Things wouldn't be this good again until Lil Beethoven.

8/10
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Andy M · Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 10:39 am Post subject:

More fun tunes from the boys on Angst, another album with Mack at the helm. But in truth it’s not as good as Whomp. Rather as Buckeye Randy says, it’s almost a side one/side two split for me: Angst to Nicotina, plus Eaten – very good. The rest - pleasant but disposable. Mickey Mouse especially, perhaps, points the way to the next two albums and a downhill slide.

My favourite track on this album has varied over the years, but Sherlock Holmes stands out for me now. An honourable mention needs to be made for Eaten,and I’m much taken with Gemma Ray’s wonderful cover/collaboration.

As to the album cover – light-hearted though it is, might not this now be banned in Florida if a single person complained to the far-right halfwits running the show there?

Andy M · Whoops - forgot to add my score. 5-6/10

Whoops - forgot to add my score. 5-6/10

Oscar · Power Groupie Joined: 10 Oct 2002 Posts: 413

I think of this as the Propaganda to Whomp's Kimono, since it's another case where they released two very similar albums right in a row, and I just happen to prefer the second one. Angst just has a slightly higher ratio of songs that I love to songs that I don't. I do think Whomp is a little better produced though -- Angst sometimes sounds kind of muddy, like there are too many instruments in the same place in the mix. (This is a complaint I have about some stuff by the New Pornographers, which makes me wonder if this is their favorite Sparks album.) The only songs I'm not totally crazy about are "Tarzan and Jane," "Nicotina," and... "I Predict." I've always thought of the latter being as a bit too much of a novelty song. It works really great live though.

My first favorite song on here was "Sextown USA." Hard to believe it was never released as a single! I've always thought it should've been a hit. My favorites these days are the slightly moodier ones: "Sherlock Holmes" and "Instant Weight Loss." But "Mickey Mouse" and "The Decline and Fall of Me" are up there too. "Now I've got a hobby, I collect frozen pizzas. Check out my pizzas," is the line from this album that pops into my head most often.

Even though it's far from my favorite song on here, "Nicotina" is the one I'd most like to hear live. I guess I did hear it on the Revenge of Two Hands tour, but a full-band version is what I want. They played it at two of their three shows at the El Rey in 2017, but I was there the one night they didn't play it!

As far as covers I'd like to hear, "Instant Weight Loss" has always reminded me a bit of the Dismemberment Plan. They should reunite again and cover it live. They were an awesome live band.

8/10

phdave that afternoon · Certified Fan Joined: 01 Jul 2023 Posts: 71

dinky · Sparkologist Joined: 26 Jul 2003 Posts: 669

A high bar, but this album is number one for me lyrics wise. The range of topics is astonishing. 'There's never a June.moon, spoon' line was never more apt. In the top 3.

9.5/10

Buckeye Randy · Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2023 7:45 pm Post subject:

Alex Robertson · Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2023 8:43 am Post subject:

This was another album I was made aware of through the fan letter rather than the music press. I used to love those jokey explanations about each track...all I sort of remember about the title track is that it was about, " the source of all joy being below the belt"...it did come as a surprise on hearing it, to find it was about involuntary erections.
I didn't have to wait till the weekend to buy this one as I had booked a day off work for a blood donation service in Margaret St. which was round the corner from Oxford St. I used to have a couple of pints of Guinness after giving blood, but I went to the Virgin Store instead and made my purchase then jumped the bus straight home. The bus journey as ever with me consisted of reading the lyrics on the inner sleeve and smiling at those pictures....Ron in a wedding dress was funny enough but looking like a (pregnant) honeymooner on the inner sleeve was hilarious. I had a seat to myself...nobody sits beside a bloke grinning inanely for apparently no reason.
Back home, straight on the turntable...wow...another jaunty album with off beat subjects...the previously mentioned involuntary erections, love song to a cigarette, Tarzan and Jane not about those characters as such but high schoolers being inflamed with jungle passions all the songs are wonderful...Sextown USA is crying out to have a film made about it...initially I wasn't over moved by the pathos in Instant Weight Loss but soon won me over...it is a great album IMO not as good as it's predecessor by a tiny bit...so I'll mark it 8/10

SteveBoyce · Sub-Deity Joined: 17 Jan 2002 Posts: 755

The Bad Manners Album is for me a "companion volume" to Angst, it's equally enjoyable and it's a great shame it never got a release - some of the tracks like Riot with Me are not even on YT.
I have a very different interpretation of the title track to Alex...
And it was about this time that "Ron and Russ Post" first appeared

phdave that afternoon · Certified Fan Joined: 01 Jul 2023 Posts: 71