SPARKS

[dinky]

[Alex Robertson]

[SteveBoyce]

[phdave that afternoon]

I decided that I like this a bit better than Whomp. Whomp has the best song but Angst has a higher overall quality. I give it 8/10.

Favorite is Angst but The Decline and Fall of Me is the big surprise for me this week. I don't really have a least favorite, but I'd pick Tarzan and Jane I guess.

Mickey Mouse reminds me of a song Andy Kaufman would write. Probably because he lip synced the Mighty Mouse theme in his act. I'd like to see the Beach Boys cover Sextown USA. It is a much better BB parody than than the songs on Introducing that used their sound, mostly Over the Summer, because it is further away from what the BB would actually do a song about so it is funny thinking about them performing the song.

Nicotina is the weirdest one, in a good way. A very dramatic song about a female cigarette having the life sucked out of her. Only Sparks would think of that let alone record a song about it.

Live performance is I Predict. I saw a recording of this and would have loved to see it in person.
_________________
I don’t have time to fill out questionnaires.

[highersynth]

I'm not well this week and haven't been able to face listening to anything, even Sparks (I know, right?!) until this morning. I've just played Angst as far as Moustache, and all I can say at this stage is, overall I really like it.

Interesting to hear the to-and-fro on what the title track alludes to. Admittedly I'm of the wrong gender to know about these things, but I had always assumed it referred to a much more general angst about sexual prowess haunting - erm - pretty much everyone?? "Give it a hundred years - it won't go away" sounds more of a neurotic affliction than a physical one to me.

Anyway. Subsiding now until I feel well enough to write a review.
_________________
Tomorrow I'll find out all I should know...

[Oscar]

[Toughest Girl In Town]

When I first listened to this album as a Sparks fan "in training" a couple of years ago, I had a strange feeling of déjà-vu, as if I already knew this album from my childhood when it was first released. And maybe I really did, however this will forever remain a total mystery to me since I have no witness left from this time any longer (other than me). I don't think my folks even knew who Sparks were, so I have no idea how I got to listen to it as a child... oh well.
This album is a great piece of work with both music and lyrics. Not a big fan of the arrangements though, but it could have been much worse.

I just love how sad topics (or even dramatic) are being happily sung with funny and witty lyrics there.
While cigarettes kill millions of people each year, Nicotina tells the story of a nice and playful cigarette being killed by a coughing man... Isn't that just brilliant??? Even Nicotina's death sounds absolutely dramatic in Russell's voice!
And the awesome The decline and fall of me, which is about a mysterious person slowly dying from dementia, who says goodbye to an even more mysterious "future Mrs Mael"... Wow, just wow. How can a song be possibly so funny and so sad at the same time???
I also see Instant Weight Loss as a song about harassment. An overweight guy who seems to be insulted by girls because of his size, and spends his "steamy" nights having dreams about losing weight extra quickly as a revenge...

My favourite song is I predict, which also has one of the best music videos ever made
I don't really like Eaten by the monster of love, so I wasn't really disappointed when it disappeared from their show's setlist in Paris 3 months ago!

Overall, this album deserves a solid 7.5/10.

[waterloosunset]

Angst In My Pants is my favorite Sparks album of the ‘80s. The ‘80s is my least favorite Sparks era. It’s an album for rocking out. Since I am one of the newbies here, I didn’t listen to it at a time when I did most of my rocking out, but no matter. Some songs on the album include great lyrics and fetching melodies: Angst In My Pants, Sherlock Holmes (even better on Two Hands One Mouth), Mickey Mouse, and Moustache. I Predict is a hilarious footstomper. My favorite song off the album is The Decline and Fall of Me. The music just takes me away with it, and the lyrics, are both funny and poignant. The line about “the future Mrs. Mael” always gives me a lump in my throat. When I first heard that song, my reaction was, “Oh my God, I know exactly where the New Pornographers draw their inspiration from”. That was before I knew that both AC Newman and Neko Case are big Sparks fans. I enjoy the music in Sextown USA, but their “we are singing in a completely unnuanced way about sex” attitude seems to be pervasive in the ‘80s. I find it boring. I can take or leave the rest of the album, except I really dislike the melody of Instant Weight Loss (the lyrics are solid). But not all of it. I like the “one night, one steamy night” part a lot. I actually have spent time trying to figure out what it is about that opening keyboard drone and the body of the song that bothers me so much; I suspect it’s one of their descents into Hall and Oates-ism. From here, Sparks don’t get really interesting for me again until Gratuitous Sax.

Favorite Track: The Decline and Fall of Me
Least Favorite Track: Instant Weight Loss
Score: 7/10 (I hope I’m not being too generous)
_________________
better drop the requirement that everything be great

[highersynth]

Thanks @Oscar for the kind wishes.

Finally found the energy to listen to the rest of the pod (the second side of Angst hasn't been dropped yet though - pity!) and the whole album with as much attention as I could muster.

I found myself wishing that I could compartmentalise my thoughts more helpfully; I really tried to listen to this without continually mentally referencing earlier (or even later) works.
And, truth be told, I probably love it nearly as much as Kimono.
Overall it gets a 9/10 for me - great rocking tunes, mainly thoughtful lyrics, a nice helping of Ron as his most ironic and subversive and Russell's lower-register doing overtime.

Favourite tracks - a tussle between Angst, I Predict and Monster.
Least favourite - currently not crazy about Tarzen and Jane, though it could conceivably grow on me; and also against the run of opinion, Decline and Fall of Me. Having lost a parent who was formerly talented, smart, opinionated and dapper, to dementia 16 years ago, the song still feels too close to home. It really isn't the song's fault, and there's something to be said for making light of one's inevitable demise. I just can't listen too closely.

@Waterloosunset, I get the "Hall and Oates" thing with Instant Weight Loss - it actually puts me more in mind of Prefab Sprout though (and they get right on my nerves). Somehow R&R are getting away with it here, just by being them!

I believe the involuntary erection interpretation of Angst originated with a blog? Correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, having listened again, I disagree with the blogger. "And when you're all alone you and your head" - sounds more like the angst about being good enough (in bed) than anything more physical to me. Either way, a brilliant, stomping classic and one that I'm delighted to have seen live this year.

I predict is dripping with irony about "alternate facts" in an age before they were fashionable enough to have a name.
Sextown USA - a jolly romp, appropriately enough. Catchy, well-crafted; nothing too deep and meaningful.

Sherlock Holmes - I really examined this carefully after listening to the pod - it's such a tragic song, the protagonist with virtually no hope of hanging on to his girl, even with the help of the famous detective. It's beautifully written, and delivered immaculately by Russell. No surprise there at all, but it suits his pitch and timbre naturally, much more so than Angst, which is lower and sits on his "break".

Nicotina is a little gem - a tightly compressed, concentrated tragic-opera crammed into three and a half frantic minutes. As Ron does so frequently, a perfect miniature painted from the most mundane of subjects. If you wanted a succinct example of "what sort of music do Sparks play" this is a great one - it's rocky, quirky (totally random really), contains vivid imagery and drama and tells a complete story. This is lyrical genius, whether you like the subject matter or not.

Mickey Mouse took a while to grow on me. Again, at odds with the majority, I can find no love for Disney or The Mouse. I've grown to like the track - I'm not entirely sure that R&R are fanclub members either, and that's enough to allow me to like it, cantankerous old so-and-so that I am.

Instant Weight Loss. Took me a few listens to put my finger on it, but this track is very reminiscent of the Prefab Sprout / Aztec Camera sound that became popular in the UK later in the 80s. Both those bands were formed by the time Sparks published Angst, but neither had enjoyed much success yet. There's another band of the same ilk hovering just outside my recollection too. I don't mind it - it seems to be about a sad deluded fatty who dreams of instant weight loss. (Story of my life).

I've already spoken about Decline and Fall - and that leaves Monster. This is another song I'm delighted to have seen live on the recent tour. It's such a delightful pre-teen boy's view of love - eeeeuwww!! - and simultaneously a pretty accurate picture of what falling in love does for a person. All the good things here - catchy, danceable, funny, fun.

Really enjoyed getting into this one - only regret is that I didn't stick with Sparks long enough to do so when it was released.
_________________
Tomorrow I'll find out all I should know...

[waterloosunset]

@highersynth, I'm so sorry about your parent's dementia and passing. When a song topic is too close to home for me, I also find it hard to listen to.

I think it's interesting that, as a Brit, you like "American Sparks" better than I do.

Finally, I do hope you are feeling better.
_________________
better drop the requirement that everything be great

[waterloosunset]

[highersynth]

[highersynth]

[highersynth]

Welcome to Week 12 of Album Club - w/c 24th September - In Outer Space

You can find a link to the album on Spotify here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/7DQ4JbSvurZKtAUCz1hxE9?si=8URFLTdVR82-lian3TdYRw

Prompts for discussion, if needed, and scores for previous albums, at the top of the thread.
_________________
Tomorrow I'll find out all I should know...

[Andy M]

“And I’m losing it fast . . .”

I’ve never been sure whether this album is called Sparks in Outer Space or simply In Outer Space; whichever, I see it as being another dip in performance, to be continued with Pulling Rabbits. Both these LPs demonstrate what I think someone else said earlier – dumbed down songs that seem to be aimed at a teenage US audience. Yet some also send up the same said audience – Popularity and Praying on this album, for instance.

Nonetheless, there are still some gems here: All You Ever Think About is Sex, I Wish I Looked a Little Better and (my favourite) Rockin’ Girls. At first glance the latter seems to tread the same path as Young Girls, but is redeemed by mocking the narrator. I’ll also confess a soft spot for Lucky Me, Lucky You, which is rather sweet. The rest? Well, disposable just about fits.

A neat cover though, reprised by Edgar Wright for a Sparks Brothers promo video. Nowt to do with outer space, mind.

4/10

[Oscar]

I like this album more in theory than I do when I'm actually listening to it. One thing I like about it is the seemingly deliberate progression from songs with more positive outlooks on partying (at least on the surface) to songs that that are more open about the protagonists' underlying anxieties. It's like the curtain is being pulled back midway through the album. I don't really like "Please Baby Please," but I do like the "I'm gettin' weird!" line. And from there you've got neuroses about looks, aging, loneliness. Don't ask me how "A Fun Bunch of Guys" fits into that trajectory, though.

But on a song-by-song level, this album just doesn't grab me much. "Cool Places" and "All You Ever Think About" are fun, but I don't have a lot of appreciation for them beyond that. "Popularity" is probably the best one, where you can hear some of the darker side of the partying lifestyle creeping in without it being explicitly stated in the lyrics. "Lucky Me, Lucky You" is also a favorite of mine. It's basically a Magnetic Fields song, years before The Magnetic Fields existed ("Desert Island" from their Holiday album even has a similar theme). And "I Wish I Looked a Little Better" wins for funniest lyrics. "I went to high school and majored in looking real bad / I got a real ugly mom and a real ugly dad" still makes me laugh out loud.

Aside from "Please Baby Please," "Praying for a Party" is probably the most forgettable track. Though "Cool Places" isn't my favorite, I would like to hear it done live as an actual duet.

5/10

[Alex Robertson]

Now living in South London as opposed to north London, I hadn't changed my address with the fan club so I didn't get my news letter. Camberwell ( and Peckham) had more record shops to choose from but no Sparks section, so rather than wait two weeks for it to be ordered, I made my usual Sparks trek to Oxford St. I'd seen this one advertised in my flatmate's music paper so at least I had the album cover picture to go by.
Once home, my flatmates were treated to my latest acquisition, they enjoyed it but weren't blown away.
I did like it a lot and as a new Sparks album it got a lot of repeated play... Praying For A Party is probably my favourite followed by A Fun Bunch Of Guys...but the duets are great ( one of my flatmates was a Go-Gos fan so his interest was piqued). This is a good rather than great album...but still a solid 7/10.

As a side note one of my flatmates wanted to recreate the cover scene but I refused to have a raspberry cheesecake slammed into my fizzer even for art...if it had been a cream flan I might've acquiesced...but cheesecakes are rather solid and I assume painful.

[highersynth]

Best thing about this album is @Alex's reminiscences and speculations about the relative density of raspberry cheesecake vs cream flan.

I've listened once attentively, and I don't want to listen again - this is not my cup of tea at all.
Lyrics on the whole appear banal and uninspired; they lack Ron's usual elegance and wit. (Even as a Young Person I don't remember especially enjoying songs about young people vapidly partying and bubbling all over the place - everything for me was heavier!)
Russell's singing is ok - but frequently pitched on his "break" making him sound less than excellent. I don't generally enjoy listening to him duetting.
The tunes are poppy, light and disposable, again lacking the originality and interest usually evident.
And finally, I must confess to a girlish dislike of Jane Wiedlin which is rooted entirely in jealousy.

Favourite song - if forced, I would pick Dance Goddammit, on the basis that it's the only one that doesn't sound fluffy.
Least favourite - really no point me answering that one.

Overall, a disdainful 2/10 and draw a veil over it.
_________________
Tomorrow I'll find out all I should know...

[Buckeye Randy]

From Wiki; In Outer Space became one of Sparks' most successful albums in the U.S. It peaked at No. 88 on the Billboard 200 albums chart,[2] and built upon the success of the band's previous two studio albums, Angst in My Pants (1982) and Whomp That Sucker (1981)

As much as I enjoyed Angst, my taste in music was not MTV driven new wave/dance/pop.

I remember the video for Cool Places and college radio was playing the song as well. It wasn't enough to entice me to buy this album. I was a fickle fan with limited income and 1983 was a good year for rock on many levels. Sparks got shuffled back as far as being a player on the new music scene.

I gave a listen several years ago through Spotify...nope, not for me. I tried again this week, nope. No connection.

I would like to see a remake of Cool Places with some current artists. Something guitar driven would be fun.

Score 2.5. It is 0.5 higher than Terminal Jive because I can make it through Cool Places.
_________________
Billy, Don't Be A Porter

[Toughest Girl In Town]

Well... as a dedicated Sparks fan it's a bit painful for me to admit that listening to this album was not the best thing I did today (and my day's been pretty average).

There's nothing much to say, I think songs and lyrics are pretty basic and don't have anything special that particularly need to be remembered.
Except maybe All you ever think about is sex, which is the only one with brilliant and funny lyrics, and a nice rhythm too. Definitely my favourite on this album. I first heard this song on a poor quality video on youtube, where I first heard "All you ever think about is using me" instead of "exclusively". It made the song even funnier, even now that I know what the real lyrics are I still can't unhear it :)

Least favourite song? Well, there are so many to choose from, I couldn't just pick one, unfortunately.

In my opinion, the best thing about this album is its cover.
I'll give it a 3/10.