Who are Sparks? What are they about? That’s exactly what Edgar Wright’s outstanding new documentary “The Sparks Brothers” tries to unpack and demystify. Because Sparks is not only a versatile art-pop band (chiefly brothers, Ron and Russel Mael), but they’re a highly eclectic, trailblazing rock group that’s fairly elusive and mysterious to a lot of people, even music connoisseurs. As Beck says in the documentary, one of the many famous admirers in the documentary, the highly influential Sparks, is likely your favorite band’s favorite band.
“The Sparks Brothers” debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and brought down the virtual house. Much like Wright’s other films (“Shaun of The Dead,” “Hot Fuzz,” “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Universe”), “The Sparks Brothers” is dynamic, kinetic, and flies by. The doc is like a superdeluxe mixtape that Wright is dying to share with you, he’s a ride or die fan, but it’s surprisingly emotional and moving, too, documenting the band’s many ups and downs. As I wrote in my Sundance review, the film is a terrific music documentary, but it’s also a “heartrending dedication to brotherhood, tenacity, the persistence of vision, and… something akin to poignant thank you note of gratitude to these artists for being so uniquely weird and wonderful.”
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Sparks have released 25 albums, been around for 5 decades since the early ’70s, and they began as a (kind of) eccentric glam rock band that was a little bit like a cross between T-Rex, Roxy Music, and Queen, with a little David Bowie thrown in too. But Sparks is restless, constantly evolving, and has covered every style under the sun, pioneered synthpop, and worked with music greats like Tony Visconti (one of Bowie’s famous producers) and disco/synth pioneer Giorgio Moroder.
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“How can a band be successful, underrated, hugely influential, and overlooked all at the same time?” Wright asks at the documentary’s opening, and that nails the kind of quandary Sparks have found themselves in over the years (and perhaps the one Wright had too when presenting this doc).
In our conversation, Edgar Wright says he made the documentary, in part, in a kind of way to save time at dinner parties because when conversations turned to music, he was always bringing up Sparks. Instead of a 90-minute explainer, he’s created a whole thrilling, deeply compelling documentary about the band, and it’s one of the best movies of the year, frankly (spoiler: It’s on our upcoming Best Films Of 2021 feature). As a big fan of Sparks and Edgar Wright, this 40-minute-ish conversation with the trio, Edgar, Ron, and Russell, was a huge treat for me. “The Sparks Brothers” hits theaters June 18 via Focus Features, and you just cannot miss it; it’s essential viewing. As I told the Mael brothers at the beginning of the doc, I was always a Sparks fan but didn’t know the full breadth of their discography, and Wright’s doc is so infectious, it’s reignited my Sparks mania and made me revisit and understand their entire career. I made a Spotify Playlist below called, The Sincerity of the Insincerity —something I believe is key to understanding Sparks: how they play with that notion of sincerity, and toy with it through characters, mini-movies as songs, and more (you can flip that title and it works too). I hope you give that a listen too.
Sparks are deeply cinematic and have a lot of roots in movies too. Over the course of their career, they almost made many film projects, one with Tim Burton and one with the legendary filmmaker Jacques Tati. This theme is essential and covered in the documentary too. Sparks has a second movie project coming out this year as well. They wrote the story and the music for “Annette,” Leos Carax’s musical starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver, which is the opening night film of the Cannes Film Festival this year. That’s also a kind of full-circle moment in the documentary that is also quite triumphant and really lovely. They even told me about the plot to the Jacques Tati film “Confusion,” he had planned to do with them before he fell ill—I’d definitely never read those details, and that was a fascinating what-if. Regardless, “The Sparks Brothers” is exceptional, and it was a real thrill to talk to the Mael Brothers and Edgar Wright. You can listen to that full conversation below.
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Be sure to check out my Sparks Spotify playlist and some of Edgar Wright’s favorite Sparks songs in the videos and playlists below.