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Sparks - Li’l Beethoven by Dan Grote

Sparks - Li’l Beethoven 
Label: Palm Pictures
Rating: 

The second line of Li’l Beethoven’s opening track, “The Rhythm Thief,” sums up the album thusly: “Say goodbye to the beat.” And, true to its word, the production duo that is Sparks have put out an album that’s sorely lacking in the booming bass and time-keeping drumwork that would otherwise create said rhythm or beat. 

And yet, the music is very similar to that ultimate beat-keeping genre, Techno, in so far as being chock full of brain-numbing repetition. Truth be told, it takes a strong stomach to get past the neo-classical looping of “The Rhythm Thief,” its successor track, “How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall?” and several of the other seven tracks that make up the onus of self-admitted “musical overkill” that is Li’l Beethoven, an oeuvre that seems to also have said goodbye to the idea of verses between choruses in addition to the beat.

However, once you get past the blustering orchestrations and bass-free refrains, there are some bits of humor to be found. “I Married Myself” is a more flat-out tongue-in-cheek number that seems to model itself after McCartney’s early solo work, sort of a cross between “Silly Love Songs” and “Uncle Albert.” Then there is “Ugly Guys with Beautiful Girls,” a song with time-tested subject matter that paraphrases Joe Jackson’s classic pop ditty “Is She Really Going out with Him?” and adds scream effects and a spoken word interlude. However, nothing tops the musical theatre vibe of “Suburban Homeboy,” a song-and-dance piece with lyrics like “I bought me cornrows on Amazon, I started listening to Farrakhan, My caddy and me, he looks just like Jay-Z” and a closing flourish that evokes, if nothing else, the image of a chorus line of yuppies flashing their jazz hands.

VERDICT: A classical rebellion against pop music? A vanity project for a musical Kaufman and Zmuda? Humor for the most pretentious of ears? All of these could describe Sparks’ music on their latest effort, but there is some mainstream humor to be found on Li’l Beethovenl; it’s just that you’re expected to work for it to find it, to get past the gnawing repetitions of the first few tracks to get to the more straightforward outlandishness of “Ugly Guys with Beautiful Girls” and “Suburban Homeboy.” Perhaps the true question is whether or not you are up to the challenge of Sparks, and, more importantly, if you’re willing to shell out your own cash for music that’s part experimental and part mental endurance challenge.

Tracks: The Rhythm Thief How Do I Get To Carnegie Hall What Are All These Bands So Angry About? I Married Myself Ride 'Em Cowboy My Baby's Taking Me Home Your Call Is Very Important To Us Please Hold Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls Suburban Homeboy

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