What immediately jumps out at me with Penny Sparkle is that it is by far the least irritating record from Blonde Redhead. And not irritating at all, at that. I’m not quite ready to spin it at parties or anything but it’s good. The album benefits greatly from the sonic mastery of Alan Moulder, who mixed Penny Sparkle and was the go-to-guy for shoegaze production in the early nineties. His resume is long and includes stadium powerhouses U2 and Nine Inch Nails. The result is also the band’s best-sounding album. No disrespect to Guy Picciotto, producer of Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons, but Fugazi wasn’t exactly known for greatly layered production.
The playing of the Pace brothers is solid while Kazu Makino’s vocals are surprisingly and pleasantly understated. The blend is dreamy and reminiscent of the transformation of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Makino, like Karen O, toned down her stylings and, in turn, has made her voice another instrument in the mix. It don’t club you over the head with squeaking and weirdness anymore.
In High Fidelity, Rob Gordon is peeved when record store crony Barry shuts off Belle And Sebastian’s The Boy With The Arab Strap, exclaiming “It’s a record we’ve been listening to and enjoying, Barry”. He later goes onto say that he just wanted “something I can ignore”. That is how I feel about Penny Sparkle. It may sound like an insult but it isn’t. Sometimes there’s music you want to hear to really enjoy and sometimes there’s music that you want to hear so you don’t have to listen too intently. This album is what I want to listen to while I do other things. Just as Sonic Youth’s Murray Street is an album I like driving to and Chris Whitley’s Weed is preferred lawn mowing music, Penny Sparkle is ideal for maybe doing dishes or vacuuming. It is calming and doesn’t distract. That doesn’t mean it isn’t enjoyable.
