Last Days Of Wonder

Mojo - 4 stars out of 5 -- "THE LAST DAYS OF WONDER is rich in history and nature imagery, yet the couple are equally obsessed with modern life..." The Wire - "[T]he powers of the (super)natural world beckon and cajole in all 12 songs....There's such a freshness to Brett Spark's music that few comparisons can be made." No Depression - "[With] Brett Sparks' vintage soundscapes and Rennie's magical realism, twisted together in tunes that are both past and present, literary and carnal..." Alternative Press - 3 out of 5 -- "'These Golden Jewels' is a Tom Waits-worthy waltz; 'Bowling Alley Bar' sounds like a Willie Nelson outtake...[and] 'After We Shot The Grizzly' is actually kind of uplifting..." Uncut - 4 (out of 5) - "An unqualified triumph." Independent - 4 (out of 5) - Album Of The Week Daily Telegraph - "Beautifully eerie - a wonderful album." Observer - "Darkly delicious stuff." Sunday Times - "A strange delight." Word - (07/06, p.102) - "...a collection of off-beat love songs that send shivers up, and down the spine." Alternative Press (p.206) - 3 out of 5 -- "'These Golden Jewels' is a Tom Waits-worthy waltz; 'Bowling Alley Bar' sounds like a Willie Nelson outtake...[and] 'After We Shot The Grizzly' is actually kind of uplifting..." The Wire (p.42) - "[T]he powers of the (super)natural world beckon and cajole in all 12 songs....There's such a freshness to Brett Spark's music that few comparisons can be made." No Depression (p.115) - "[With] Brett Sparks' vintage soundscapes and Rennie's magical realism, twisted together in tunes that are both past and present, literary and carnal..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.101) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "THE LAST DAYS OF WONDER is rich in history and nature imagery, yet the couple are equally obsessed with modern life..."

LAST DAYS OF WONDER is Brett and Rennie Sparks' seventh full-length album, and a stellar addition to the Handsome Family's catalogue of top-shelf Americana. For the lyrics, Rennie Sparks applies the everyday surrealism of traditional American ballads to a landscape that is as full of airports, motels, and golf courses as it is of swamps and Grizzlies. The music bridges traditional and contemporary modes as well, featuring ukulele, bowed saw, and glass harmonica in addition to guitars and drums, all recorded digitally in the Sparks' garage in Albuquerque. The album begins with "Your Great Journey," which has Brett's smoothly stoic voice drifting along over acoustic and slide guitars. The line between the quotidian and the spiritual fades with lines like "You're no longer leaving footprints / You left your wallet on the bus / Your great journey has begun." The strange journey of this wonderful album continues from there.|