The Handsome Family

The Handsomes are the husband-wife duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks, and in these post-millennial, pre-apocalyptic times, no one else is as capable of spinning such off-the-wall metaphors to encapsulate our dire straits. When elevator doors close on you and automatic sinks in airports no longer see your hands, you know your great journey has begun. The title song conjures the last days of Nicola Tesla, alone in his room, dreaming of death rays and eating saltines. The golden jewels of our times are burning tires, overturned shopping carts in silver ponds and abandoned cars. But there are glimmers of hope—billboards full of singing birds and blooming trees. These Gothic, insular meditations are delivered with deadpan country music that shines light on the dark corners of the everyday, one brilliant little epiphany after another.