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The Best English Band To Come Out Of America
We’ve all been there right? You discover a new band, only to find they aren’t actually new, which leads to a good few hours on Spotify, trawling through your new unhealthy obsession’s discography.
Now multiply that by ten and you have Sparks, who have made 25 albums in a career spanning over 5 decades.
The Sparks Brothers, Ron and Russell Mael, are not your typical 70s band at all. And they’re certainly not your typical American band either – perfectly positioned as “the best English band to come out of America” in the documentary.
Edgar Wright is a fan and so in essence this is a fanboy homage to Sparks – using plenty of 4:3 footage that looks gloriously nostalgic on the big screen, interjected with your typical black and white interviews of famous celebrities, musicians and the odd English folk who’d only us in Blighty would recognise – Johnathan Ross and Adam Buxton for instance
But this is not just a documentary about Sparks, it actively involves the brothers, who add their wonderful charm each time they’re on screen.
The film begins with a crash course in all things Sparks – an appreciation that not all viewers will be fans prior to watching. Including a short ‘Frequently asked questions’ session with the boys themselves:
Q. Are you brothers?
A.We are brothers
Q. How did you first meet?
A.We are Brothers.
Just brilliant.
Edgar adds his own charm with funny word puns, visual imagery and narrative to his film, which asks the viewer to get swept up in the quirkiness.
Beck and Duran Duran being two of my favourite puns. When you see it, you’ll know.
Over the next 2 hours 20 minutes, you’re taken through the typical back story of the brothers and musical archive footage you see in most similarly veined films.
But this only takes up a small segment, as the majority crams in detail of all 25 albums, movie ventures and the highs, but also the many lows, the Maels have suffered as artists.
I have to keep in mind this isn’t a music review, this is a film review. Is this a good movie? Yes – for a documentary. Is it right for me to recommend it to everyone? Perhaps not – but if you are a person with an interest in music or a fan of Sparks in any way, you’ll enjoy this film.
The Maels deserve your attention, and with their new movie, Annette, perhaps the floodgates of love will open up.
The use of archive footage, interviews, 2d, 3d and stop motion animation is perfectly scattered throughout to keep the viewer engaged but really, it’s all about the music here. We’ve all seen music documentaries where they use 3 tracks throughout but with The Sparks Brother you travel through a 50 year journey of whimsical, comical and theatrical songwriting that makes you want to listen to all 500+ songs and discover some gems for yourself.
It delights me to be a Sparks fan.
It delights me that Annette is coming out soon.
It delights me that I have Spotify.
It should delight you too.
In conclusion, Edgar Wright has captured the essence of all things Sparks, allowing new and old fans to learn just enough of all aspects of the journey that the Mael brothers have gone to up to this point.
You can see how today’s bands are influenced by Sparks, how England and Europe took the brothers in their hearts and knew something before America did.
A Blu-ray purchase for sure for fans with the added material that was promised by Edgar at the Q&A during the viewing.