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The Handsome Family

Last Days of Wonder | Carrot Top
By KEN MICALLEF  |  July 11, 2006
3.0 3.0 Stars

060714_handsome_mian1
DARK, ABSURDIST: The Handsome Family
Attentive indiephiles and alt-country fans will soon realize that lyrics about tying a captain to a tree and trying hard not to hear his screams, or finding a human skull inside a limestone cave, could only be the observations of Albuquerque’s husband-and-wife team the Handsome Family. Over sweetly plucked harpsichords, friendly steel and acoustic guitars, and ghostly echoes of the Carter Family, Brett and Rennie Sparks have made a career off such things, concocting what they term “love songs” about “airports, garbage dumps, drive-thru windows and shark-infested waters.” If the lyrics weren’t so surreal, you could imagine yourself dining with George and Tammy before a Grand Ole Opry performance. Dark, often absurdist imagery derails such pleasant thoughts. Yet through it all, Brett’s deep baritone remains as soothing as ever.

THE HANDSOME FAMILY + CURT KIRKWOOD + AARON SINCLAIR & BRETT SAIIA OF FRANK SMITH | July 18 | T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge | 617.492.BEAR

On the Web
The Handsome Family: http://www.handsomefamily.com

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ARTICLES BY KEN MICALLEF
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  •   SIA  |  January 28, 2008
    Australian vocalist Sia Furler has one of the greatest potty mouths in alt-rock.
  •   NATALIE WALKER  |  January 14, 2008
    It’s all soothing, but Walker’s never too sweet.
  •   DAN WILSON  |  November 19, 2007
    It’s as if he were trying to impress mom while keeping the kids at bay.
  •   SERJ TANKIAN  |  October 08, 2007
    Playing almost all the instruments and freed from the Goliath prog-metal of System of a Down, he gives full release to his inner clown parade.
  •   SWEDE STUFF  |  June 04, 2007
    To most rock fans, psychedelic means Jimi Hendrix and Arthur’s Lee’s Love, or Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” and Frigid Pink’s “House of the Rising Sun.”

 See all articles by: KEN MICALLEF

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