Sparks - Mad!

MAD! enters, and attempts to reflect, a world that is mad in both the American (angry) and British (crazy) senses. One senses, too, a certain frustration with the lingering perception that the Maels are just jokers (albeit a higher calibre thereof). There are songs here which laser in on emotional truths via extreme specificity. For example, Jansport Backpack, in which a man in a soured relationship fixes on the detail of that branded label because he's always seeing it on his lover's back as she walks away. It's a cinematic trick, and it's one for which Ron, a former film student, has always had a sharp eye. Other topics include obsessive fandom, banter culture, and the already-legendary fraudster Anna Delvey, all examined with the lightness of touch for which the elder Mael is celebrated. (Record Collector)