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ONE WAY Recommends [Issue
#21]
The Handsome Family By
Ken Micallef
Last Days Of Wonder
(CD
Carrot Top)
Herald lyrics of death, fire, and Appalachian inbreeding: “We tied [the captain]
to a tree / We stared into the fire and tried not to hear his screams.” Smart
indie rock lovers will rapidly know that these could only be the twisted commentaries
of Albuquerque’s husband and wife musical team, The Handsome Family. Though
thoughtfully plucked banjos and acoustic guitars, and the ghost of the Hank Williams,
Brett and Rennie Sparks create “love songs” about “airports, garbage
dumps, drive-thru windows, and shark-infested waters” (as the liner notes
explain). If the lyrics weren’t so fantastic, you could envision yourself
dining with June Carter and Johnny Cash before an early ‘60s Grand Ole Opry
performance, but the duo’s endless absurdist imagery derails any chance of
friendly feelings. Brett’s deep baritone is gentle, even when singing, “Nicola
Tesla dreamed of a death ray to disintegrate matter” or “shopping carts
of garbage overturn in silver ponds.” By linking the typically romanticized
past to the dreadful present, The Handsome Family’s seventh album casts a
messy life somewhere between Boris Karloff and Porter Wagoner, and the jokes only
get better.
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