about
Formed at the turn of the century in the taverns and dive bars of their beloved city, The Sparklers are a loud, melodic trio from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — punch-drunk romantics playing gutter pop and junk country, but it's really just Rock ’n' Roll.
Continuing a tradition of love songs directed at anyone other than the ones they love, their new album Miss Philadelphia would fit well next to records by songwriters named Westerberg, Mould, or Strummer. Their combination of “heart on the sleeve” lyrics, anthemic guitars, and driving rhythms create a sound even larger than the City of Brotherly Love that inspired it.
The Sparklers. Miss Philadelphia. Turn it up.
Reviews for "Miss Philadelphia"
No better way to start than with this band from Philadelphia. They combine the sound of both the Clash and the Replacements, and have released an album full of great songs like "Last Great Saturday Night", "Among The Heather", "St. Bridget's Cross" and "Positively Broad Street". It’s one of those albums you play over and over again, and has definitely been the one I've listened to the most this month.
— Los Rincones de Mister Outside
Sometimes a good press release does enough to make you know that you’re going to love a band from just a couple of lines. That’s certainly true when the details of “Miss Philadelphia” dropped in our inbox and described The Sparklers as “punch drunk romantics playing gutter pop and junk country”. That’s literally a perfect description of the music we love to hear!
The album certainly starts off in rocking style with the ballsy but catchy “Slow Songs Fast”. Tracks like “Victories Past” and “To Catch A Plane” are straight up rock songs that get the foot tapping and the heart beating. One of the things that first brought the band to our attention were references to The Replacements (one of our favourite bands) and you can certainly feel their influence on the quite brilliant “Last Great Saturday Night”. This song expertly mixes a punk bar band feel with a melodic rock sound. Indeed, songs like “Our Beloved Grudges” and “Too Many Scars” are songs that could be compared to that band at their Tim/Pleased to Meet Me peak…quite an achievement.
One of the things that made The Replacements so great (certainly as they developed) was their ability to slip in some more heartfelt slower numbers amongst all the chaotic rock n roll. The Sparklers also demonstrate that they are more than capable of carrying out that trick with songs like “Heaven Evelyn” and “St Bridget’s Cross”. The first of those in particular is a beautifully melodic song that you just wish was getting constant plays on the radio. The band contrast those more laid-back tracks with songs like “Mercury Falls” and “Among The Heather”. They’re the kind of Springsteen gone punk numbers that has made the Gaslight Anthem so popular.
This is just a great album that showcases a band committed to playing great rock n roll music. They manage to balance a sense of raucous abandon with still being able to deliver songs that are melodic and catchy. There’s a sense of authenticity and genuine love for the great music of the past that few bands seem to be able to tune into these days. Definitely an album that fans of American rock need to pick up.
— The Soul of a Clown
I’ve been blogging for 10 years, and one of these days I’ll pick a random review and try to guess what I was sad or mad about. So I can’t think of a better band to be cryptically depressed with than The Sparklers. 10 years of Adobe & Teardrops, probably a literal 1.5 million songs listened to, thousands of album reviews, and I can say confidently that The Sparklers are one of the best to ever do it.
Crying at the Low Bar is one of my all-time favorite Adobe & Teardrops albums, and you can read that review here, though the post doesn’t seem to have fully transferred from Blogger. Anyway, it’s one of my all-time favorites.
The band’s latest release, Miss Philadelphia, is as much a directive as it is a series of character sketches of the down and out in South Philly. Where the band’s previous album, All The Prettiest Girls Go Straight to Hell, captured a fiery Uncle Tupelo country-rock energy, Miss Philadelphia feels like the happy medium between that fury and the dry despondency of Crying at the Low Bar. I hear a healthy dose of Springsteen and punk here — think Gaslight Anthem but swap the youthful energy with the weight of experience.
That doesn’t mean these songs are any more muted. In fact, the band re-recording of Crying‘s singular “To Catch a Plane.” Where the initial recording is permeated with regret, the new version is full of righteous fury at a person who chose to left the narrator behind.
Every time I spin the album, something new jumps out at me. A heavy hook here, a flash of lyrical brilliance there. “St Bridget’s Cross” stands out to me as a newer variation of the band’s main themes: carefully layered, maybe even a bit poppy, it finds The Sparklers at an emotional crossroads, perhaps in a place to process rather than vent. Contrast that with “Positively Broad Street,” as much a testament to frustration as the righteous joyfulness of sticking things out for so long.
As with all of the band’s previous work, there’s always something to pull me back into this world. The music is a wall of sound, with the vocals sitting just behind the music, sometimes inaudible just as they would be at the local dive bar. And yet, there’s no shortage of flashes of lyrical brilliance, perhaps a reflection of the band’s world view that in spite of the chaos and existential meaninglessness of life, something beautiful always shines through. Always.
— Adobe and Teardrops
From the first notes of Miss Philadelphia, the latest album from The Sparklers, it’s obvious these guys are serious about their dad rock. The ghosts of Husker Dü, The Replacements, and The Clash haunt their music like Casper wearing Chuck Taylors. And their bar band punk songs hold their own against songs by peers like Gaslight Anthem and Lucero. Still, even though The Sparklers have been around since 2001, the South Philly band’s only released three albums and a couple of EPs. Come on, fellas! We need more Sparkle!
— Dad Rock, Etc.
Loud, melodic rock and roll best played at full blast.
This loud, melodic band from Philadelphia, who have been recording and playing together since 2001, are clearly fans of and influenced by The Clash, The Replacements and Husker Du – they combine a real twenty first century freshness with a throwback to the late 70s when rock ‘n’ roll fused with punk.
The Sparklers’ third full length album release, ‘Miss Philadelphia‘, should be played at full blast! The trio – Brian McCracken on vocals and guitar, John Douglas Smith on vocals and bass, and Steve Kirsch on drums – create a brilliantly exciting, loud and distinctive sound, featuring ‘heart on the sleeve’ lyrics, anthemic guitars and driving rhythms. From the opening chords of the excellent ‘Slow Songs Fast‘ to album closer, ‘Positively Broad Street‘, the pace barely lets up, and it is easy to imagine these songs played live in a small, sweaty bar with the audience packed in and singing along to every chorus.
Take, for example, this reviewer’s personal favourite ‘St Bridget’s Cross‘, which starts quietly then builds superbly with a refrain that really works its way under your skin. It’s a great track from a quite excellent album.
— Graham Bollands
Americana UK
Philadelphia Calling – Clashing Rockers THE SPARKLERS Have A Punk Riot Of Their Own
The Sparklers bring 1977 to 2022. They looked/listened to the past, took notes, tuned up their guitars and their monitors in their basement, and here they are today with a riot of their own. Yes, the spit and sneer spirit of iconic legends The Clash is all over this record.
Spiky guitars on a ripping roll, throbbing drum beats, and anxious vocals (Slow Songs Fast / Late Great Saturday Night / Among The Heather). But also Bob Mould and his former mates Hüsker Dü are part of the party ( Victories Past / Positively Broad Street / Mercury Falls).
This Philly trio masters all the triggering tricks to make you jump all over the place like a crackpot on a pogo stick. Need more to vote? I don’t think so.
Miss Philadelphia has won the contest.
— JL
Turn Up The Volume
Reviews for "All the Prettiest Girls Go Straight to Hell"
“When a song grabs your jugular, the most sensible thing is not to resist. When an acoustic guitar announces, like lightning before the thunder, that the next riff will be devastating. Well, that's how the second album of The Sparklers begins. The Sparklers are a trio native to Philadelphia and offer real rock'n'roll in their own right -- totally independent and against the current, a masterpiece published at the end of 2017, which deserves to be enjoyed in all its entirety. My mind is blown by this sublime collection, ironically titled All the Prettiest Girls Go Straight to Hell. Any artist or group that is capable of inventing sonic attacks like the initial "My Ghosts Sing" or "Lift a Dance My Nancy" enters my sanctuary of sublime losers with hymns to wait for the Apocalypse with a smile on the lips. Mamma mía. These songs could belong to the most flowery repertoire of the Replacements and Paul Westerberg. The album turns towards more rustic courses in "Battleship Glass Jar", with sailor fiddle included. The cut titled "All the Prettiest Girls" and "Upon Radar" evidence debts not settled with "Candy Apple Gray" by Bob Mould and Husker Dü -- turbo guitars, fulminating melodies, and effective garage-rock vocals. "Muni" and "Very Good Gatsby" ooze emotion from Americana, conviction and surrender, linking The Sparklers with Social Distortion or Uncle Tupelo. The moving ballad that is "St. Providence", with its delicious acoustic and keyboard background, shows us the most sensitive facet of the group. The chilling half-time of "Moon and How to Shoot It" is another joy. How can you be so good in intensity and precision in less than three minutes? The final cut is called "Local Honey" and serves to summon the spirits of Paterson Hood (Drive by Truckers) and Kevin Kinney (Drivin'n 'Cryin') for a fantastic unplugged farewell, which forces me to listen repeatedly. All the Prettiest Girls ... is, like so many excellent works of today, destined to be enjoyed by a minority audience. If you wish to be part of it, you are advised to listen to them. The reward is guaranteed. The Sparklers can be really proud of this commendable effort.”
— Joaquin Lopez Diaz
Magnetófono (Madrid, Spain)
"The Sparklers' previous album, Crying at the Low Bar, came out back in 2012 and has been living with me, in one way or another, since. Click the tag for the proof but that album has been one of my favorites since starting this blog almost six years ago. It's not a stretch to say that I've been waiting my entire adult life for the follow-up. All the Prettiest Girls Go Straight to Hell came out this week and I absolutely let out a fangirl squee about it, much to my officemate's amusement. So how does it stack up? Crying at the Low Bar sounded like the Gin Blossoms doing covers of The Replacements after a long night: wistful, nostalgic, almost angry if they had worked up the energy for it, the album has a mystical quality to it. Unsurprisingly, the songs that follow that template on Prettiest Girls are the ones that appeal to me most. But in five years, the Sparklers have worked up the energy and the middle of the album proudly saunters into full punk raucousness. It's a new trick from an old (to me) dog and the band pulls it off in style. The aggressive beats of "All the Prettiest Girls" and "Very Good Gatsby" are tempered by the wrong-end-of-the-telescope quality of the slower numbers, creating an overall dynamism that I wasn't expecting but certainly welcome. In other news, The Sparklers have still got it and then some. There's no gimmicks or slave to trends here: All the Prettiest Girls Go Straight to Hell is meat-and-potatoes rock'n'roll at its finest."
— Adobe and Teardrops
Reviews for "Crying at the Low Bar"
"Upon first listen, the Sparklers have a really familiar sound. It's a mix of Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs' gravely voice with REM's pop sensibility. Their latest album Crying at the Low Bar is almost a year old but only recently came to my attention. When I learned it was recorded in South Philly, I had to give it a listen. You can hear the whole thing track by track here. "Gingham" is my favorite. The record has gotten some nice accolades from media outlets like Philadelphia Weekly. Plus, at least three websites have named the album among their best list for 2012. All Access has an interview with the band here."
— Cyndy Drue
102.9 WMGK, Philadelphia
"This was just one of those discoveries that reminds you why you love music. What can I say? With their whip-smart lyrics, bar-band raggedness, and '90s-throwback guitar hooks, The Sparklers captured my heart."
— Adobe and Teardrops (Best of 2012)
"I really wish I could say that The Sparklers are from New York, because then I could say there's a local band here that I genuinely adore. But they're from the next best city (ie, Philadelphia) and I still adore them. Their website describes Crying at the Low Bar as a song cycle about "loss, losing, and losering" in Philadelphia. Like a boozy, regretful night, the songs fade into each other seamlessly. While some moments are more distinct than others, the songs coalesce to create a nostalgic, bittersweet atmosphere. Sonically, it's like they took all of the music I love and put it in a blender. And that's why, with just one album under their belts, I'm labeling The Sparklers as part of The Basics. It's been a while since I've fallen this in love with a band."
— Adobe and Teardrops
"The Sparklers are a new alt-country four-piece from South Philadelphia who this weekend are celebrating the release of their debut full-length, Crying at the Low Bar. Named for the matchbook-sized pub that was a go-to hang for the Passayunk Avenue crowd of the early '00s, the record is a tribute to late nights and hoarse throats done up in rumbling guitars, honky-tonk piano and Replacements-style catchy hooks."
— John Vettese
88.5 WXPN, Philadelphia
"There was a time when genuine rock bands landed on major labels, received amble promotion, and found success on radio. I am just old enough to remember this time. Bands like Cracker and Drivin'n'Cryin' weren't huge everywhere but found considerable audiences in various parts of the country. This was before the consolidation of radio stations and record labels. It's in this era that The Sparklers probably could have found similar levels of success. Their second album, Crying At The Low Bar, harkens back to the quality rock of the late eighties and early nineties without sounding dated or retread. Two songs from Crying At The Low Bar ("Gingham" & "Falling Apart Makes") were recently featured on Von's Americana Mix Podcast, which is where I first heard of them. "Never Underestimate The Moon" is the kind of song every 14 year-old discovering rock'n'roll should listen to. It has interesting sounds and a catchy melody and enough rock to displease overbearing parents. Most importantly the song's title and chorus is the kind of thing a 14 year-old mind could ponder throughout the school day. What The Sparklers prove throughout the album is that they can write a song. Standouts include "Gunfire and Confetti" and "Weren't For Bars" but their website describes the album as a song cycle and for once that's exactly how I feel about it. While each sounds unique enough the songs drift out of one into another with an emphasis on mood and feel. There's a whole lot to like about this record. I would suggest you listen, buy, like on facebook, tell your friends, make an illegal copy for your younger cousin, thank me."
— Charles Hale
ninebullets.net
"If you believe there are legions more where Ryan Adams came from, that a particular brand of heartfelt rock 'n' roll still lurks in the corners not taken up by what we know in this moment to be hip and that all of this is grand and magic, go see the fricking Sparklers already. You'll be glad you did."