Some things you just get a bad feeling about from the outset.Packaged in a sparse airport scene, complete with the title, the expectation is for something generic and boring. Moments that could soundtrack an airport montage of almost any TV or film moment and leave the masses feeling ever so slightly moved are something to be feared. So it’s nice to be able to listen to an album with this in mind, and find that there’s a lot more to it than that.
‘Sparks on the Tarmac’ is the third outing from Melbournian D Rogers, and has more to it than the first cynical response deserves. ‘Worst of Your Kind,’ for example, displays some interesting lyrics, looking out at where others are up to in life and despairing poetically.
The self-effacing humility associated with Lightspeed Champion is present on this album in droves, combined with a similar tenacity when it comes to the lyrics, which are often beautifully crooned whilst describing something grim. This generation needs the subtle satirists to tell us pleasantly what gets their goat. It’s better than being angry and direction. To describe, it’s accomplished singer-songwriting built around the acoustic guitar but backed often by original and enjoyable compositions. The starting point may have been country, but it’s travelled further than that.
Lyrically, two songs are built around the concept of ‘you are…’ (‘you are this,’ ‘you are that’) and this is a weakness that disguises the strength of these personal anecdotes. On the whole, originality is the key with the lyrics, and experimenting with instruments is your theme for the music. ‘First To Know’ is pretty stripped down and works, whilst a fuller orchestral backing does the trick for ‘Knocked Down the House.’ ‘Fortunate Sons’ adds an element of blues-rock to proceedings, mixed in with some dirty (yes, dirty) piano, keeping thing interesting around the twelfth track mark.
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Variety is the key to enjoying this. ‘Boy in the Rain’ is an understated ditty, pleasant with an element of foreboding, a travelling country song which builds and then disappears abruptly. There will be more lyrics to discover with each listen, more little hooks added in by instruments I probably can’t name. It falls into the line of being witty, sometimes abrasive, whilst also speaking a lot. These are moments that you may have experienced but couldn’t articulate.
Refreshing for this string-laden style of delivery, these songs excel in their brevity – even the slow ones. There’s something to be said for that. It’s possible that ‘Sparks on the Tarmac’ is lacking one or two killer tunes to hold things together, and there are moments that are just screaming out for a bit of tempo, but on the whole this is an impressive, expectation-defying release.
This is another album to add to the disaffected young man collection, and it’s a welcome addition. Whilst not leading the genre, this is an enjoyable album packed with thought and ideas that work. It’s managed to take my judging an album by its sleeve stance, and drop kick it with charming tunes and some spot on observations. It gets no grimmer than the cover art, I assure you. Worth a listen.
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