The Early Years
Absolutely Kosher
The title of the CD might lead one to believe that these tunes were recorded many moons ago, but in fact these are recent songs by a contemporary band led by Jason Zumpano, who Bucketfull readers may remember as the main man of the […]
Sparrow: The Early Years (Absolutely Kosher) — Don’t be put off by the red herrings: talented, nostalgia-drunk garage-pop musician Jason Zumpano names his latest band after a famous calypso singer (Sparrow) then titles that band’s third album The Early Years (although it was recorded last summer), thereby misleading calypso fans and nostalgia-drunk garage-pop fans simultaneously. […]
“Jason Zumpano’s name gives him both a leg up and a tough bar to clear. The
Canadian band that bore his surname released two excellent albums for Sub
Pop in the mid-’90s, and it probaly would’ave disappeared into obscurity if
Zumpano singer Carl Newman hadn’t launched the New Pornographers. With
Sparrow, Zumpano (the guy) seems comfortable twirling in his […]
Jason Zumpano thinks in terms of how his songs will be orchestrated, not just accompanied. This means trumpets as well as the usual guitars, basses and drums. Zumpano first gained attention with the band Zumpano, which excelled at upbeat, tune-filled pop. As leader of Sparrow, he hasn’t changed much. An EP was darker and more […]
Because it’s raining and cold outside and it’s kinda feelin’ like England, I find myself in a Sixties ‘retro’ mindset. Who better to spend time with than Jason Zumpano, the man who created some great bubblegum-pop records in the mid 1990s? True, The New Pornographers’ Carl Newman was in the band, and he gets a […]
The whimsical, wound-up chamber pop of Vancouver’s Sparrow magically cranks out sunny melodies like cotton candy. Strings swell as horns soar while rambunctious jingles of charmed sincerity suggests vaudeville operettas and choirboy carnivals. Subverting cliches and distorting formulas, “Early,” fills itself with rollicking waltzes, radiant harmonies, bouncy arrangements and bemused self-reflection.
Sparrow’s aptly titled “The Early Years” is a tuneful throwback to naive pop from decades ago, when production values were iffy by today’s standards, though charm was more abundant.
Independent pop hasn’t found the sturdy foothold currently enjoyed by indie rock, but lively acts like Sparrow could make a difference: The band from Vancouver, Canada, […]
Pubblicato da Absolutely Kosher Records, il secondo atto di Sparrow sfoggia sorprendenti corpi pop rock vestiti in tessuti orchestrali. In questo suo progetto “laterale”, Jason Zumpano ordisce con polso fermo un piccolo e verosimile reame di poco più di mezz’ora di vita, in nove piccoli mosaici sgargianti e scaltri.
Come nulla fosse, fa vestire […]
Being a drummer in a mid-1990’s seminal band that sounded like the Zombies might leave you with a nice resume and not much else, which is where Jason Zumpano stood a few years ago. Now, with Sparrow’s second record, The Early Years, (Absolutely Kosher), Zumpano proves that drummers can also front bands (”Photograph” by Ringo […]
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 […]