Beachwood Sparks
Once We Were Trees
Sub Pop Records SPCD 545

by William Michael Smith

Needed: musical description of Beachwood Sparks.

The Byrds meet George Martin at Abbey Road during the recording of "I Am The Walrus." The Sparks introduce George to steel guitars and harmonicas. George introduces the Sparks to Sgt. Pepper.

Gram Parsons records with The Sadies. During the session, the engineer accidentally engages the intergalactic phase shifter.

The Sons of the Pioneers are invaded by Martian body snatchers and transported to an alien recording studio inside a Quonset hut near Roswell, New Mexico.

Whoa, Nelly, hold the phone. This is gettin' out o' hand.

Suffice it to say there is no easy or lazy description for the latest effort from California's Beachwood Sparks (what a cool name). And suffice it to say you don't get on the Sub Pop label by playing it like everyone else is playing it; the Beachwood Sparks are and they don't. Not that there aren't some reference points to go by. Their work does call to mind the Byrds and Toronto's The Sadies, even the Grateful Dead of Working Man's Dead or American Beauty, but those are only gross and momentary approximations. I'm not aware of any other band quite like Beachwood Sparks. For the sake of simplicity, I'm just going to call what they do country power-pop. Or power-pop country. Or something.

What sets the Sparks apart from other bands on the scene today? Well, they sound like an alt-country rock band with a jones for both the "Get Back" and the Magical Mystery Tour Beatles channeled through the Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Today that's not entirely unusual or unique, but the Sparks play their lush brand of country rock (or country power-pop) with both a quirky, offbeat abandon and a mathematical precision that is neither meant as a cheeky irony or a campy parody. While their music isn't a new genre or a new art form, it is an astonishingly artistic synthesis of styles coupled with some very creative ideas about how to shape sounds and record them. Recorded by Pernice Brother Thom Monahan, much of the music is masked, filtered, echoed, and compacted into layers, making it sound as if it is shrouded in a thin orchestral gauze that gives off a transcendent, mystical aura. It's not easy listening but, once the ear adjusts, the sound package is quite exhilarating, sonically pleasing, and, like Momma's buckwheat pancakes, it sticks with you.

The first few times through the 15-track CD, everything just seems to run together. But eventually I began to distinguish the tracks and found a lot to understand and appreciate in the layers as my brain peeled them apart and separated the elements. Through a neat little recording contrivance, the record seems to just drop out of the blue into the speakers with a few beautiful moments of dissonant orchestral tune up which suddenly coalesce into a nifty Byrds style melody on "Germination." (It took me three weeks to snap that the album begins with "Germination" and ends with "Once We Were Trees"by Beachwood Sparks. Get it?)

One of the first anomalies I confronted was what seemed like the unlikeliest of covers, Sade's "By Your Side." With its loose country harmonica and otherworldly steel guitar held together by a layer of soulful organ, it seems almost as if the song has been rewritten, that it is a Sparks original. The transformation from Sade's smoldering determination to the lighthearted treatment of the Sparks is an amazing act of musical alchemy.

Gram Parsons' fans will find much to like in the gentle "Old Manatee." With a lilting, unhurried banjo lead, soothing harmonies, comforting harmonica, and idyllic lyric, this track is at once light and mentally satisfying.

Make a bed up next to mine
Sing a song from sweet Tennessee
Ecstasy is riding high
Grab a star in your hand
Make a fire to bring it around
And float like an old manatee

"The Hustler" not only continues this soothing, reassuring musical flow, it serves as an example of the Sparks' subtle lyric sophistication. The lyrics aren't particularly noteworthy and might even be considered trite or banal in print, but when the Sparks sing them the effect is sublime. Never has a relationship in trouble sounded so good.

Like the leaves my love has fallen away
To the ground to the sound of breaking hearts
But like the sun my hope will rise again
From the ground to the sound of connection

The Sparks kick up their country heels on "Your Selfish Ways" with a bit more rhythmic punch and some outstanding guitar licks. While the overarching feel of this album is very mellow and Californian (and tracks like "Old Manatee" and "The Hustler" fully exemplify the mellow Californian nature of the album), just about the time the good vibes have lulled you into near-nirvana, the Beachwood Sparks, with an assist from guitarist J. Masics, turn on their rock and roll side with the blasting instrumental, "Juggler's Revenge." What begins with a combination of psychedelic effects and noodling quickly evolves into a rocking tour de force of straight ahead picking and a tight wall of rhythm. I'm ready for a whole album of this.

Showing their musical cleverness and diversity (and a wicked sense of order), the Sparks follow this rocker with the deceptively complex lullaby, "The Good Night Whistle." You've never heard a train song quite like this one. While the band repeats "the train is going to sleep tonight" over and over like a sleep-inducing mantra, the guitar and harmonica engage in some mind-locking repetitive figures. If you've got children who won't go to sleep, this one is guaranteed to lay 'em down for the night. There is some kind of magic sleeping potion hidden in this track. It truly deserves to be called a lullaby.

One thing that creates a distinction between the Beachwood Sparks and other bands is their highly polished choral nature. The harmonies are exceptionally sweet, slick and seemingly effortless throughout the album. Tracks like "Once We Were Trees" throw off a distinct Byrdsian choral vibe. In fact, except for the final crescendo freakout, this track is very reminiscent of the bubbly, good time Byrds tune from the Easy Rider soundtrack, "I Must Surely Follow."

Beachwood Sparks have produced a most impressive sophomore effort. Their playing is precise, purposeful and focused, their musical concept is at once visionary and logical, and their music is both intellectually pleasing and gut-level likeable. Forget the mythical sophomore jinx with Beachwood Sparks. The real question is what will they do to top this outstanding musical invention the next time out.

* This is one of those records that, if it had come out in the '60's, would have been described as 'mind expanding.' Nowadays we just call these 'damned fine albums.' If you're interested in hearing one of the premier country/power-pop bands around, get your Beachwood Sparks at www.subpop.com If you want to know more about the incredible Beachwood Sparks, go to www.beachwoodsparks.com






Contact William Michael Smith at: wms-at-rockzilla.net

 
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