[Overcoat/(none)]
2003
Rating: 8.0
Best Song: A Broken Sign
Today it is raining, but the weather doesn’t really matter. The sun could be pouring through fog at 6 in the morning on the way to hand in an essay, or a summer rain could be leaking in through an open window and Sparrow’s self-titled release will still be […]
When one of your ex-band members resurfaces with a project as critically acclaimed as The New Pornagraphers (is it possible to write about this band without using the desription “Canadian supergroup?”), it must be pretty daunting to release new work of your own. But Jason Zumpano, drummer and namesake of mid-90s power-pop act Zumpano, did […]
SPARROW
‘SPARROW’
OVERCOAT
‘Sparrow’ is the latest release on OVERCOAT RECORDINGS. SPARROW is the newproject of Vancouver based JASON ZUMPANO, who, along with future NEW PORNOGRAPHER, CARL NEWMAN, led the power pop band ZUMPANO throughout the nineties. This debut self titled release is full of well crafted melodies and irresistible hooks. The band takes their cues from such […]
Jason Zumpano Reemerges As Sparrow
Now that Carl Newman is once again an indie rock superstar thanks to his involvement in The New Pornographers, people are beginning to rediscover his old band: the late, great Zumpano. Zumpano put out two fabulous albums in the mid-90s and then quietly broke up. We all know what happened to […]
SPARROW- s/t
The other night I saw Jason Zumpano leaving the Arts Club after the Bonnie Blue show. A few days later I saw him reading at a cafe. He took out a pen and drew something on a napkin, rumpling it up and tossing it into the trash. A few hours after that, I saw […]
Artist: Sparrow - Album: s/t
Label: Overcoat - Rating: 4*s out of 5
Mellow, sweet pop. Think: a more reduced Belle and Sebastian sound. Mostly slow, day-dreamy stuff, kinda like the stuff they call Shoe-Gaze. Slightly reedy vocals. Suits the weather perfectly. It was started by the bloke who started a band with one of the New […]
Jason Zumpano comes back. His previous band, Zumpano dealt in piano-dominated pop that elicited comparisons from The Zombies to Jim Webb.
Sparrow’s LP is more comtemporary and more smoothly contoured — sweet rather than imposing.
Their press release claims that they are a “salon pop” group. Being an incurably curious person, I listened to Sparrow’s self-titled debut solely to find out what salon pop was. Basically, if you’re into well-crafted pop music a la Bacharach or Brian Wilson, you’ll like Sparrow.
Another one of Canada’s best kept secrets, Sparrow is fronted […]
Sparrow has crafted a pleasing, layered pop album, based on compositions originally written for an orchestral instrumental trio known as The Sparrow (and headed by Jason Zumpano). That name should be familiar, as Zumpano was the name of the mid-90s band that featured Jason on drums alongside Carl Newman of New Pornographers fame. Since then, […]
Sparrow Is the Real Zumpano
By James Keast
August 29, 2003
“When Zumpano fizzled, I really had no choice. What was I going to do, play drums for the rest of my life?” Jason Zumpano, drummer and namesake of early 90s pop band Zumpano, needed a new hobby so he turned instead to piano and began finally capturing […]