To celebrate with the release of ‘Box of Letters’ the first LP of original material from stalwart Los Angeles powerpop band, sparkle*jets uk, in 25 years… Is powerpop a misnomer here? We’ll see. Anyhow, we’re excited about all of this so much so, it’s sparkle*jets u.k. Week in Outsideleft. We’ve got all sorts of things planned for this week. Today, long-time OL contributor and author of two seminal books on the career output of MOMUS, John Robinson, an avowed powerpop fan, gives ‘Box of Letters’ the slide rule once-over which is not unreasonable since the record is 25 years in the making, and slide rules were still a thing when sparkle*jets began recording it. Over to John…
sparkle*jets u.k.
Box of Letters
(Big Stir Records)
A legendary act on the U.S. live scene in the late 90s and noughties, Sparkle*Jets U.K named themselves after a 60s Gretsch guitar, with U.K. added for the hell of it. Their infectious power pop sound was modelled on 60s and 70s pop, Big Star, XTC, Elvis Costello, Cheap Trick, and they released two albums before a long break, with the members working on other projects, and all three members being involved in education. They reunited for the superb covers album Best of Friends in 2020, having moved to Big Stir records. Their third studio album combines tracks written back in the day with new originals and two covers, and their sound remains sunny, compelling and fresh. The band retains its core members, Susan West, Michael Simmons and Jamie Knight. Susan and Michael’s vocals are the centre of the band, harmonically and tonally matching each other. The album’s title itself is reminiscent of both The Box Tops and their biggest hit The Letter, an ur-text of power-pop, a direct link via Alex Chilton to Big Star and where Sparkle*Jets U.K. are now.
The opening track is a vital cover of the Zombies This Will Be Our Year, a statement of intent and hope, beefed up from the original, an admission that the album “took a long time to come”, adding a vocal inflection and guitar solo from 70s glam with superbly arranged harmonies. Goodbye x 3 is a thumping piece of new wave rock, Susan’s vocal storming out the door “Come what may, I won’t be back again”, leaving a lover, or a job, or a situation, with the softer side of the song continuing to evoke classic 70s sounds, even Abba. Princess Needy is a slight misstep- the 60s arrangement against a vocal castigating a drama queen contrasts oddly with the disco instrumental in the middle – while being like the rest of the album perfectly well produced. Love Burn is right back on form though, with a sarcastic vocal from Susan against an alt-rock opening and verse, and chiming chorus, scuzzy guitar solo and lyrics you can read innuendo into if you really want. Their Californian roots are acknowledged on I Can’t Wait for the Summer, a beautifully arranged and perfectly pitched Beach Boys tribute, while Little Circles is a melancholy sounding, hopeful musing about our impact on the world, negligible in the grand scheme of things, but huge to those we know: inspired by early use of social media such as MySpace, “Say something beautiful, something that’s wanted”, Michael’s delivery hitting the right balance between strength of purpose and tenderness.
The title track, about a found box of love letters from the singer’s past lover, twists an obvious story of loss: “Every letter there froze a moment of the time we spent together”, into something a little darker, against a ferocious, catchy power pop theme: “Why don’t you look around and see if there’s a box of letters from me”, a powerful, stand-out vocal from Susan. Where is the Moment, a hymn to mindfulness, is over simplistic if anything, although that fits the vocal, trying to ignore the past and the present, a lost cause when the track’s style itself so clearly clings to the past. Perhaps no surprise that this track is one of the most recent, along with You Complete Me, a deliberate attempt to recreate the purity and innocence of some strands of 60s pop. “You complete me baby, I guess that makes you perfect for me”, with a humourous interlude as the singer realises they’ve used the word co-dependency incorrectly in the song: “Well I checked the Wikipedia for revelation and I found out that I’ve been wrong”. I’m Away From My Desk is a straightforward song about slogging through a 9-5 desk job, sonically close to XTC’s later rock singles, the lyric on the other hand is somewhere around Jonathan Coulton territory, but lacking his bite. It mainly makes me glad I don’t work there: “Is it lunchtime again… It's my turn to buy again”. Is that really a thing, to buy everyone’s lunch? One Two Tango is delicious nonsense, a showcase for the band’s harmonising and using vocal snippets that recall the lyrical essence of Game Theory’s output: “On the beach from dusk to dawn, don’t have to be a pawn to lose the game tonight”. The album closes with an exuberant cover of Moby Grape’s Hey Grandma which really shows how well the band can play, recorded as live, representative of their stage act.
To sum up, it’s good to have the Sparkle*Jets U.K. back, a band emblematic of the power pop movement and revival around the turn of the century, and a type of music that I’ve always championed since hearing Big Star, Game Theory, Todd Rundgren and the like back in the day. This album is superbly produced and polished, with mostly superb lyrics, hooks everywhere, a powerful rhythm section and immaculately arranged harmonies. If they are ever twee, it’s deliberate, and don’t suppose the lyrics aren’t hiding some darker intention. Perhaps it really is their year.
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→
