Exotic Creatures Of The Deep

Sparks' last two albums built songs around keyboards and vocals in minimalist 8- and 16-bar loops; Exotic Creatures Of The Deep features verses and choruses and only repeats each line once, which counts as relatively accessible.

There is no ideal on-ramp for the Sparks canon, but Exotic Creatures of the Deep once again re-energizes this weird little alternate universe.

Exotic Creatures of the Deep is a substantial, if inconsistent treat. Even when they're treading water Sparks still cut it better than most bands half their age.

Their residency was capped by a performance of their new record, Exotic Creatures of the Deep. Their crowning achievement? There is certainly a case to be made for it.

Now, with Exotic Creatures, an ideal balance has been reached between classical elements, rock, and the band’s third pillar from the past--electronic music. [Winter 2009]

Compared to "Hello Young Lovers," Exotic Creatures does sound a little starker at points, but it's often also subtler and slyer, tempering bombast in favor of sprightly but also uneasy melodies on songs like 'The Director Never Yelled "Cut'"

And that's what makes Exotic Creatures Of The Deep such an interesting and deceptively ambitious record. Not only is Russell Mael still capable of using camp innuendo to mock himself, as on album closer 'Likeable', but he's also not afraid to put those who owe him and his brother a debt of gratitude - however small - in the public spotlight.

As before, the least substantial choruses often repeat the longest, but it's a shortcoming offset by archly charming verses flaunting byzantine puns and rhymes that prove the Maels are as ambitiously eccentric as ever.