It's sparkle*jets u.k. Week in Outsideleft and let's get this straight, we don’t often get around to rolling out the red carpet for music artists with official bits and bobs like It’s sparkle*jets u.k. Week in Outsideleft. I can only think of a handful of times in twenty years we’ve featured musicians and one of them is the composer Cassis B. Staudt, owner of a Palme d'Or for producing the Iggy Pop and Tom Waits segment of Jim Jarmusch’s Cigarettes and Alcohol. And of course Millicent Chapanda. That's Love! Anyhow, sparkle*jets u.k. Week it is this week and since there’s been a 25 year gap between the new sparkle*jets u.k. LP ‘Box of Letters’ (Big Stir Records) and their previous album of original material, 2002’s ‘Bamboo Lounge’. Just when could we have done sparkle•jets week for these guys? We waited for 20 years.
As an aside, and you know I like asides, (you know—designed to add weight and validity), When The Hold Steady appeared on the cover of the Village Voice, they were the first rock band to take to the cover in 10 years. Time flies then music happens.
While Box of Letters marks a significant musical return for the band; they have remained a critical part of the unending cultural conversation, re:guitar pop, in their native West Coast of the U.S.A. There’s a scene, a vibe and they are critical figures within it. That Bamboo Lounge LP from 2002 has undergone several reissues since it's initial release...
The 'Box of Letters' LP saw vocalist-guitarist Susan West reunite with singer-guitarist Michael Simmons who produced the record and bassist JAMIE KNIGHT. The sound was augmented by longtime collaborators Tisha Boonyawatana (keys, vocals) and drummer Joel Valder.
Over the next week, we’re gonna discover just what that is like to stutter step as a band for 25 years, how that feels. And how together, as musicians, they still meld their original influences, classic pop giants like the Beatles, Big Star and ELO, with '90s power pop whilst forever investigating new sound influences! OMG did I just write that! Apologies. They’re dropping a little dash of the Breeders, the Beach Boys and more into the mix. Each song from Box Of Letters is so layered, at once familiar and yet original—perhaps that is the essence of a pop record. Perhaps pop essence can be found in the finest details they hone in the studio. By the end of this week we’re gonna know.
For now check 'This Will Be Our Year' from the new LP and come back tomorrow for a full review of Box Of Letters by John Robinson; on Wednesday Mike Simmons talks us through the record, track by track. Thursday will see an interview with Mike and bassist Jamie and on Friday we’re going to wrap things up with Five Records Mike recommends you never need listen to again. It’s sparkle*jets u.k. week in Outsideleft all week. It’s On!
Essential Info
It's sparkle*jets u.k. Week in Outsideleft (intro)
Box of Letters LP review by John Robinson→
Track by Track Box of Letters by Mike Simmons→
Interview with Mike and Jamie→
Eargraters: 5 Record Mike Simmons would go to the End of the Earth to Never Hear Again...
sparkle*jets u.k. on facebook is here→
Big Stir Records, sparkle*jets u.k. page is here→
