You know how you just keep listening to Neutral Milk Hotel and try to fill that void with other acoustic rock that had heart and edge? Well, The Lovely Sparrows are a downright excellent entry into the Texan-Jeff-Mangum replacement contest. The group makes for a startlingly good live rock and roll show, with up to seven folkies on stage, and they record wonderful songs that can be relistened to over and over. The more that is going on musically, the more interesting it is, according the Polyphonic theorem. The Lovely Sparrows take the Okkervil River and/or Decemberists formula of lots of instruments that go from minimal to gigantuaran in a matter of bars, and excel at it. The control they display on their newest twenty minute hand screened EP – Pulling up Floors, Pouring on (New) Paint is exactly what that vein of music should be doing: showing range, being smart, being pretty, and being rugged all at once. The soft galloping drums, flute, mandolin, handclaps and above all the lyrics that take some paying attention to- make for a good, dense showcase of songs. All five tracks are completely solid. The Lovely Sparrows, Voxtrot, the Laughing, and the Always Already have all put out some of the best EPs as of recent times, and they are all from my Barack Obama loving town of Austin. My heart swells with pride.
Cheers to Abandoned Love Records for consistently putting out quality albums.
Look for the Lovely Sparrows out and about during SXSW and add them on Myspace HERE.
MP3: the Lovely Sparrows – Chemicals Change 
Comments
Man, that song is good. It sort of takes me back.
Posted by: Hoboken | February 28, 2007 11:06 AM
The Polyphonic theorum isn't always effective when applied, but it works here.
Posted by: Anonymous | February 28, 2007 02:39 PM
more like the suckphonic therom.
Posted by: Anonymous | February 28, 2007 05:32 PM