Hello Young Lovers (CD - 2006)

Personnel: Russell Mael (vocals); Dean Menta, Jim Wilson (guitar); Ron Mael (keyboards); Tammy Glover (drums).

Audio Mixer: John Thomas.

Recording information: Sparks Studio, Los Angeles, CA.

Photographer: Aaron Rapoport.

Arrangers: Ron Mael; Russell Mael.

Ron and Russell Mael, aka Sparks, have been making some of the most confounding and incredibly enjoyable music of the past 30 years. HELLO YOUNG LOVERS (2006) stays true to Sparks' manic tradition and holds up against the band's classic 1970s albums. For newcomers, the easiest musical reference point for Sparks is Queen: both bands share a fondness for the operatic potential of rock and pop. Sparks' artistry, however, is in a world completely unto itself, and avoids rock clichés at every turn while somehow managing to embrace all of them. Take for example the opener, "Dick Around": with its synthesized orchestration giving way to a piano-driven pop bridge and a near-heavy-metal interlude that leads to a soaring finale, it's a remarkable rush--and unlike anything else in pop music. All the songs contain a similar schizophrenic indulgence, from the dating/grammar lesson "Metaphor" to "(Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country?"--easily the most bizarre and incessantly catchy protest song to emerge from the War on Terror. HELLO YOUNG LOVERS is a strange, captivating listen that will surely please longtime fans while proving once again that the Mael brothers are two of the most underappreciated geniuses in music. minimize