The Vue 2005
My musical tastes tend towards a darker sound, so my first impression of the bouncy, retro-flavoured tunes on Sparrow’s The Early Years was that they were just too light and breezy to leave much of a mark on me. But sometimes music only becomes interesting when you spin it again and again, leaving first impressions behind, and such was the case here. Digging further down revealed a depth that I was initially unaware of, and it turns out that the early-‘60s-influenced melodies are merely the first layer in the Sparrow experience.
Sure, the music still reminds me of Yellow Submarine-era Beatles, but Sparrow prefers to build on that sound rather than simply copy it. There are some nice surprises to be had: the organ that surfs along on the propulsive beats; the textures provided by the horns and violin; the spidery guitar lines; the male/female vocal harmonies, courtesy of Jason Zumpano and Lucy Brain—it’s the harmonies that are really grabbing me right now. There’s just something about the way the voices mesh that sets the sound apart from every other harmonizing group.
No, Sparrow’s not changing the world with this album, but I don’t think that’s what they’re trying to accomplish anyway. They’re doing something right if they’ve put together an album that gets more interesting each time you listen to it, and it sure is fun to watch it unfold. —Eden Munro