This Town Isn't Big Enough For this Band

 THE SPARKS BROTHERS (2021)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The Sparks Brothers as the name of a band? Heck, no, just call them the Sparks.

Director Edgar Wright asks them: "Are you guys brothers?"

Russell Mael: "Yes."

Edgar Wright: "How did you first meet?"

Ron Mael: "We are brothers."

"The Sparks Brothers" could've been one of those youtube GQ career discussions where a celebrity breaks down their hits and follies. Thankfully, it is more than that though I would've been just as entertained by listening to their career assessment. The wacky, highly theatrical American duo rock band from the late 1960's, who have been performing with no end in sight as of this review, are so exultant in their performances that you can't help but want to play along. Despite criticisms that they were a comedy band or performance artists more akin to Gilbert and Sullivan, or that they did not fit in to the mainstream in any way, it is arguably what made them stand out. The Sparks stood their ground and their creativity took them wherever they needed to go. The last thing you can ever say about them is that they sold out.

Their 1980's hit "Music That You Can Dance To" might qualify as their sell-out to the industry (and what better way to sell out than to have your song appear in an abominable BMX movie like 1986's "RAD") yet listening to the lyrics, the irony may fall on deaf ears since you can dance to it. Sparks (originally named Urban Renewal Project and later HalfNelson before changing it altogether to their current name) were heavily influenced by British bands like the Kinks and the Who and their desire, despite being true-blooded Americans, was to become a British band! That English vibe did not work for them yet their on-stage presence and their music had such vitality that you could easily groove and dance to it. There is a joy in their performance and their on-stage presence shows not just their infectiousness but also that they were in on the joke as well. Russell Mael was the fiery singer with a falsetto voice, and Ron Mael was the keyboardist with a Hitler-like (or Chaplin-like depending on who you ask) mustache and he often stares unblinkingly at the audience and the camera. 

The Sparks secured a cult following and after a few years they had a stunning Number 2 single called "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" from their breakthrough album "Kimono My House." Interestingly some of their album covers told their own stories and the band's name was not even in the front of their Propaganda album from 1974! Once they returned to America and felt they had to reinvent themselves, mostly their sound and their look, they transitioned into an early synthesizer pop sound thanks to their collaboration with Giorgio Moroder, the father of euro disco and electronic dance music. As aforementioned, the Sparks had an 80's hit yet their pop music was more of an affront to the standard pop. That had become their standard - to go beyond what was traditionally accepted in rock music form. A key to their strengths is that they went with their gut; they did not follow what was popular and in the ether in any decade. They were always reinventing themselves.   

"The Sparks Brothers" has the traditional talking heads of admirers and rock musicians alike, some of which don't get enough screen time (Flea, Steve Jones, Beck, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran) and others I could live without (Do we need a reminder that actor Jason Schwartzman's mother is Talia Shire who was in that abysmal "Rad"). The movie, directed with unbridled enthusiasm by fanboy Edgar Wright, employs more than ample footage of the band from the 70's onward and has the art pop duo (and all talking head interviews) in black-and-white while reminiscing about their past which is shown in color. At two hours plus and an overview of their 25 albums (they hope to make many more), we get a real sense of the camaraderie between the brothers and their upbeat attitude, the demise of their film projects with Jacques Tati and Tim Burton, and their inability to somehow crossover into the mainstream. There are no real insights into their private lives whatsoever, only the heady look at their discography and concert performances. It may be the way they want it and that is fine - this gloriously pleasing film is big enough for them.