She wears a JanSport backpack

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts

30/05/25 : MAD! - Sparks 

Somewhat surprisingly this is our third visit with the Mael brothers - last time, I quite liked it but would have preferred a bit more variety and I have suspicions the same will prove to be true for this one.

Actually, I feel like they've given me a bit more variety here, so I'd have to say I'm pretty happy with this. It feels like (as much as such a thing exists) a typical Sparks album - well put together art-school bleepiness with quirky lyrics. And some great track titles - "JanSport Backpack" (which I particularly liked), "Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab", "I-405 Rules" (Wikipedia tells me the I-405 is the busiest freeway in the US) and "A Little Bit Of Light Banter". All in all, this was pretty damn enjoyable.

And, disappointingly, it's at #2 in the charts this week - it would have been nice if they'd made it to #1. And who kept them off the top? Sabrina Bloody Carpenter, that's who - back for her fifth week at #1, with the rest of the top five being Ed Sheeran, When Rivers Meet (a new entry) and Tate McRae (doing well because she's been here on tour and she'll be back later in the month, so we may yet get to listen to this). And, matching the fact that that Sparks' formed in '71 and this it their 28th album, we have a curiously old-timer feel to the new entries this week...

When Rivers Meets (#3)
I'd never heard of this lot - I assumed they'd be heavy from the name. And they're not exactly light, but they're not heavy either. Any duo consisting of a married couple playing bluesy rock is obviously inviting comparisons with The White Stripes and there's certainly some of them in there, but this harks back to the 70s more and has some nicer harmonies. It’s a bit different and I liked it - they're relative newcomers as well, with them forming in '17 and only up to their fifth album.

Skunk Anansie (#7)
This sounds pretty much as I was expecting it to but a bit less angry - and it was all the better for it. Don’t worry, Skin’s not about to go gentle into that night, there’s still plenty of attitude there. I liked this one too - this is their seventh album and they formed in '94, with this certainly harking back to that 90s indie sound.

Louise (#8)
This isn't anything anyone needs but it could be a lot worse with her voice being much better than I was expecting. I was surprised to see this is her fifth solo album going all the way back to '96 - with her, of course having started out in Eternal in '92.

Sports Team (#11)
This is a weird one, it's sounds like Curiosity Killed The Cat but updated with some very modern and arch lyrics. It's well done but I’m not sure who it’s aimed at - they were formed in '17 and are only up to their third album.  

Orbital (#13)
This isn't really a new entry, because it's an expanded version of this from '93 - but boy is it expanded, with 35 tracks coming in at over 4 hours. I must admit I didn't listen to it.

Stereolab (#29)
As expected, this is nicely tricksy with it sounding VERY French - it won't be for everyone but if you like some bleeps then you'll probably like this lot who've been going since '90 and they're up to their eleventh album.

Amble (#48)
From the name of the artist and the album (Reverie) I assumed this would be ambient, but it's some nice Celtic twinged male singer-songwriter stuff - it reminded me of Hozier, but I quite liked it (more than I like Hozier, anyway). And we finally have a debut album from a new group!

Cardinal Black (#61)
I'd never heard of this lot either and assumed they'd be heavy, but it's swirling indie rock - it reminded me of Snow Patrol, but I'm sure they'd tell me they're much cooler than that. However cool they are, I quite liked it - they've been around since '20 and this is their second album.

Morcheeba (#71)
This sounds like Morcheeba - do you need any more than that? And who knew they were up to eleven albums since their debut in '96.

Turin Brakes (#97)
And, just about sneaking in there, this sounds like Turin Brakes, who've only given us ten albums since their debut in '99. 

That's a very 90s heavy selection, isn't it - are they back in? Maybe it's the Oasis reunion that we're all really excited for that's driving things - we've all got tickets, right? I also have one other album released this week to mention - unfortunately Ambience by Steve Chowne didn't quite make the charts, but it's a lovely bit of ivory tickling and I'm sure it's just biding its time and playing the long game. What with all the new entries we don't have any space for wild and wacky re-entries this week - the best I've got for you is Myles Smith (#32) who is curiously back for his sixth run, all of which have been one week.

Last week I said that Morgan Wallen would drop to #46 and I was way off with that one because he's at #10, which surprised me - but I'm going to be very surprised if Sparks are anything more than a "one and done" album. And this week's Taylor stats are her usual one in the top forty and six in the entire chart, with her lowest album being at #85 which is where it was last week.

Wikipedia tells us this is their first album on the Transgressive label and the move seems to have worked well for them because their last three albums all peaked at #7 but this has given them their highest ever album chart placing. The critics have been very nice about it and it's also charted in a few other countries, getting to #48 in Germany, #67 in Switzerland and #193 in Belgium. They've made it! They've certainly taken their time about it, with Ron turning 80 in a couple of months time, but I hope they're enjoying it - if you don't know anything about them then I can thoroughly recommend Edgar Wright's documentary about the band.

We actually had a very reasonable selection of albums this week, particularly if you like that 90s sound. I'm also pretty happy with the order they appeared because I think Sparks, When Rivers Meet and Skunk Anansie are probably the best three albums - they're all very listenable and well put together. 

23/05/25 - Just far too long
06/06/25 - Well, it was trying at least