Crown Of Sparrows

Monk Parker / Crown of Sparrows

Label: Stargazer Records

Review: Stace

Bonnie “Prince” Billy-flavored indie folk singer songwriter backed by a supergroup with a contributors list that reads like a Who’s Who of the Austin/Brooklyn music nexus. Vast desert overdriven guitars reminiscent of SIn Ropas’ classic track “Tripped on Your Cape.”. Contrived accents and low-fi recording techniques lend an aged patina to the whole album that works well with the quasi-mystic lyrical sense of Monk Parker. Sounds sung through a victrola channeling another, more sepia-toned dimension.

RIYL: Sin Ropas, Calexico, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Townes Van Zandt, Phosphorescent

FCC Clean

Favorites: Play them all.

1. Crown of Sparrows (06:05) - Slow to midtempo. Fades in with some test-pattern like tone, that scatters into organ and spare strings, with Monk Parker’s tin-edged tenor vocals. Soon gives way to acoustic steel string guitars and lap steel that makes it sound like a soundtrack for a Cormac McCarthy screenplay.
2. Gaudy Frame (04:43) *** Slow, piano and steel guitar ode to Rooney Mara. No really. Horns and Tambourine make this a beautiful and melancholy winner. Favorite.
3. Night Market (04:46) - Spare, slow overdriven guitar solos over soft bass and brushed snare/highhat rhythm. Cool lyrics about shopping in grocery stores late at night, and that weird shadowless brightness you only notice when you’re the only person in the store. Or when you’re on hallucinogens, maybe. Horns at the epic crescendo end.
4. Prom (04:51) * - Slow. Interesting mix of drum machine and live drums with the synthetic nature of the drum machine, really prominent, I think intentionally. This lends a really cool contrast to the organic sound of the steel guitar work. Lyrics not as distinct, on this one. Nice horns on the chorus.
5. Oh Cousin (07:30) - Light and airy intro, with organ and static giving way to slow, spare guitar, tambourine rhythm and Monk Parker vocals.
6. Drowned Men (04:38) - Midtempo, horn-driven, brightness compared to the previous tracks gives way to somber lyrics. Stays a bit more “peppy” than the rest of the tracks. String driven refrain, punctuates the middle of the song, after which a chorus of accompaniment brings the album to a fading close with strings. “Hey, let’s have everyone who touched this album play on this track.” Still, it works, even if it’s a tried and true way to end an album.