{"id":28101,"date":"2024-09-08T05:30:21","date_gmt":"2024-09-08T09:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=28101"},"modified":"2024-09-05T10:38:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T14:38:27","slug":"album-review-sparklejets-u-k-box-of-letters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/08\/album-review-sparklejets-u-k-box-of-letters\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Sparkle*jets U.K. \u2013 Box of Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-28102\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sparkle_jets_box.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sparkle_jets_box.jpg 350w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sparkle_jets_box-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sparkle_jets_box-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>Despite their name, Sparkle*jets U.K. are from Southern California, not Leeds, Hull or Manchester. With that bit of housekeeping out of the way, let\u2019s consider the latest release from the group, <i>Box of Letters<\/i>. You may recall that their previous album was a collection of covers, <a href=\"Older readers may recall the time when Natalie Cole recorded a duet with her father, Nat \u201cKing Cole.\u201d The event was somewhat controversial, as Nat had at that point been dead for some 26 years. Alas, and through what Billboard described at the time as \u201cthe magic of digital technology,\u201d Nat\u2019s voice was applied to a new multitrack recording, the end result of which was a \u201cvirtual duet.\u201d In some quarters, the whole enterprise fell into the category of \u201cjust because you can do something doesn\u2019t mean you should.\u201d But the song earned three Grammy Awards and went Top Ten in six countries, and the album from which it came went 7X Platinum. So whatever one thinks about the manner in which that \u201cnew\u201d version of \u201cUnforgettable\u201d was created, it\u2019s hard arguing against that kind of success.Try as I might \u2013 and I\u2019ll admit that I didn\u2019t try too hard, as I have a lot going on at the moment \u2013 I sense that something similar is going on with Hold On, We\u2019re Comin\u2019, the new album from The (Fabulous) Courettes. This eleven-track album (one of those tracks is classified as a \u201cbonus\u201d cut) features the duo \u201cwith\u201d a parade of well-known acts from the \u201860s. What we have here is some kind of combination of original recordings (or parts of \u2018em) combined with Flavia and Martin Couri playing along.Now, did they run the original versions of The Grassroots\u2019 \u201cWait a Million Years\u201d and Johnny Thunders\u2019 \u201cYou Can\u2019t Put Your Arms Around a Memory\u201d through the now-trendy AI demixing program? This I cannot answer. And if they did \u2013 or even if they didn\u2019t, they did something \u2013 how on earth did they get permission\/legal clearance to do so? The answer to this question also remains in the idunno column. All I can do, alas, is comment on how the stuff sounds. Well, it sounds\u2026 weird. The album opens with San and Dave\u2019s \u201cHold On, I\u2019m Comin,\u201d a classic written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. We hear Sam Moore and Dave Prater singing, and we also hear The Courettes playing along with an arrangement that recalls nothing so much as Iggy Pop\u2019s \u201cLust for Life.\u201d Yeah, that\u2019s kinda\u2026 weird. And there\u2019s a strange kind of crosstalk (Flavia?) smeared across the whole thing, making the finished product sound very much like a live performance of the song in which some annoying couple in the row in front of you is having a loud conversation at the same time.The Grassroots\u2019 \u201cWait a Million Years\u201d has a spooky overdub that sounds like bad-trip Pet Sounds: Phil Spector-esque production, and whatever remains of the original recording buried so deeply in the sonic stew as to be unrecognizable. Set all of that aside, and it\u2019s pretty cool. But that\u2019s a lot to set aside. I think some of the original backing vocals remain. And again with the crosstalk!The Flamin\u2019 Groovies\u2019 \u201cShake Some Action\u201d gets the same treatment, and while it does answer the (unasked) question \u201cWhat would the song sound like if 1962-era Phil Spector had been at the recording console?\u201d I\u2019m not sure anybody\u2019s, y\u2019know, asking that. And again, what remains from the original I do not know. If the anser\u2019s \u201cnothing,\u201d that\u2019s fine, but then what\u2019s this all about?I\u2019m not going to run down each of the tracks here, because what The Courettes do to them is pretty much the same thing each time. The Association's \u201cNever My Love,\u201d Maurice Williams\u2019 \u201cStay\u201d and Joey Dee\u2019s \u201cPeppermint Twist\u201d are all processed through this very odd wringer, and not one of them comes out better for the experience. \u201cStay\u201d in particular is something of a mess, reminiscent of the (justifiably) unreleased Spector sessions for John Lennon\u2019s Rock and Roll LP. And while Jay and the Americans\u2019 \u201cCome a Little Bit Closer\u201d is noted as the bonus track, the real outlier here is the sole contemporary cover (or re-jig, or whatever you wish to call it). A processing of Taylor Swift\u2019s \u201cShake it Off\u201d doesn\u2019t seem to include any of Tay-tay\u2019s recording; it\u2019s pretty good, but its whole reason for existing remains resolutely unclear.In fact that\u2019s my ultimate verdict on Hold On, We\u2019re Comin\u2019. Yes, they could do this (by \u201ccan\u201d I mean ability, not permission). But the question remains: Should they have done? I\u2019m leaning toward no. As ever, of course, your mileage may vary. As for me, hold on, I\u2019m goin\u2019\u2026 to listen to something else now.\"><i>Best of Friends<\/i><\/a>. And this new album opens with what seems like a leftover from that project, a Jellyfish-like reading of The Zombies classic \u201cThis Will Be Our Year.\u201d It\u2019s delightful, and would have been a highlight of the last record.<\/p>\n<p>But from there it\u2019s on to new material, the sort of thing for which the group is known and admired. \u201cGoodbye X3\u201d combines all of the band\u2019s virtues: spirited, distinctive vocals, and a skillful combination nof power and finesse. Many have compared Sparkle*jets U.K. to ELO and Cheap Trick, and those touchstones are not at all off base. \u201cPrincess Needy\u201d is a bouncy pop number that makes me think of The Hudson Brothers (always a good thing). \u201cLove Burn\u201d is a slinky rocker that\u2019s largely free of retro textures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI Can;\u2019t Wait for Summer,\u201d on the other hand, is very Wondermints-ish, with an unmistakably SoCal vibe. It feels a lost gem from the Beach Boys (which is to say that it\u2019ll remind you of the Explorers Club). \u201cLittle Circles\u201d has sonorous, twangy guitar fills and a loping beat, plus some of the album\u2019s best vocal harmonies \u2013 and that\u2019s saying something. The title track is a delightful slice of energetic rock-pop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere\u2019s the Moment\u201d is subtle AM Gold reminiscent of Ace\u2019s \u201cHow Long.\u201d And while it takes its title from a famous line from <i>Jerry Maguire<\/i>, \u201cYou Complete Me\u201d is memorable, chirpy pop. \u201cI\u2019m Away form My Desk\u201d scores points for amusing lyrics that will be familiar to many listeners. The tune feels like Gladhands crossed with <i>Global<\/i>-era Cowsills, which is a way of saying that it\u2019s a delight. \u201cOne Two Tango\u201d has some beefy guitar and appealing drumming.<\/p>\n<p>The album ends as it began, with a cover. But the band\u2019s reading of Moby Grape\u2019s classic \u201cHey Grandma\u201d is both wholly unexpected and supremely clever. In Sparkle*jets U.K.\u2019s hands the tune takes on a different character. It more than justifies its existence; it won\u2019t replace the original, but it\u2019s original enough in execution as to be wholly worthwhile.<\/p>\n<p>There are absolutely no weak moments on <i>Box of Letters<\/i>. The band plays with power and subtlety in equal measure. They sound like they\u2019re having the time of their lives making this music, and chances are good that you\u2019ll feel similarly when you listen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite their name, Sparkle*jets U.K. are from Southern California, not Leeds, Hull or Manchester. With that bit of housekeeping out of the way, let\u2019s consider the latest release from the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,51,62,65],"tags":[5186],"class_list":["post-28101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-pop","category-rawk","category-review","tag-sparklejets-u-k","cat-49-id","cat-51-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28101"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28103,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28101\/revisions\/28103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}