Harp 2005
When The Early Years ends just nine songs and 31 minutes after the laser hits it, you’ll probably find yourself thinking, “That’s it?” More flower pop than power pop, it wafts by breezily and all too swiftly, lightening air that’s customarily more leaden and leaving in its wake a serious hankering for more of its sweet stuff. Vancouver’s Sparrow is the creation of Jason Zumpano, ex-drummer of the namesake band that begat New Pornographer Carl Newman. On Sparrow’s third release, Zumpano makes a switcheroo to keys and lead vocals, reaching deep into a classic well of tunefulness for irresistible melodies and skyward for celestial harmonies. Promo hype cites the Zombies, Left Banke, Raspberries, Spector, Bacharach and Beach Boys as reference points, and they’re accounted for (the former two embedded in the luxuriant string arrangements), but you can also checklist any of a thousand late-’70s and ’80s pop-crazy, punk-inspired bands that suddenly remembered that bliss equaled nothing more than tight songcraft and a little noise.