The Handsome Family have written some of the most haunting and beautiful songs in American music. During their 25-year career Brett and Rennie Sparks (a.k.a. The Handsome Family) have created songs that transform the mundane landscape of modern life into a place of mysterious portent. As Greil Marcus said, “… their everyday surrealism has no parallel in contemporary writing…”
Handsome Family songs take place in parking lots and big box stores, under overpasses and in airports. They sing about Custer’s last stand and automatic lawn sprinklers in the same song. Rennie’s lyrics often focus on the myriad creatures that live at the edges of the man-made world. Brett’s music relies on a wealth of classical models from Bach to Brecht to the Beatles. Sometimes he uses “word painting” to carefully illuminate the text. Other times he deliberately undercuts the lyrical mood to create an uncomfortable tension— that happy-sad bittersweetness The Handsome Family are famous for. Many great songwriters have covered their work, among them Jeff Tweedy, Jason Lytle, and Andrew Bird (who released an entire record of Handsome Family songs).
Handsome Family shows are famously relaxed. Their songs can be dark, but there’s always laughter on stage. There’s even some whooping from the crowd these days with the addition of Alex McMahon (guitars, steel, keyboards) and Jason Toth (drums, keyboards, sampler). Rennie sings as well as plays Autoharp, banjo, and uke bass. She often introduces songs with seemingly unrelated stories. Brett, with his resonant voice and grand beard, is a powerful presence at the center of the stage. There are a lot of new faces at shows these days, brought by “Far From Any Road,” which became a global hit when it was the theme to season one of True Detective. Both Guns ’N Roses and Bruce Springsteen have used “Far From Any Road” as walk-in music and the song is often played at hockey games.
“The Handsome Family – as funny as fuck, as sweet as love, and as serious as death”
UNCUT
“Beautifully surreal”
THE INDEPENDENT
And, believe it or not— David Bowie’s recently published notebooks contain a line that simply says, “Handsome Family.” Who knows what might have been?
“Haunting, primal and strangely heroic”
THE TIMES
“They come from Hell’s ditch armed with love”
NME
“They cast a mesmeric, almost meditative spell over the audience with their midnight dark urban folk Rennie’s barbarous short story lyrics all sharp edged lustre”
AMERICANA UK
