''Odessa'' is the first album by American band
The Handsome Family
The Handsome Family is an American music duo consisting of husband and wife Brett and Rennie Sparks formed in Chicago, Illinois, and as of 2001 based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They are perhaps best known for their song " Far from Any Road" from ...
. It was released 1994 by Carrot Top Records.
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Critical reception
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
wrote that "Brett Sparks' plain but resonant Midwestern twang gives the songs on ''Odessa'' the ring of common truth, and he and Rennie Sparks had already established themselves as writers to be reckoned with, conjuring a lyrical voice that sounds homey and terribly alienated at the same time."Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics.
Biography
Marcus wa ...
called the album an effort to "transfer the fatalism of the old murder ballads into modern life." ''Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...
'' wrote that "if ''Odessa'' has a fault, it’s lyrics that are sometimes too coyly knowing, tossing off pop cultural references to no real effect."
Track listing
# "Here's Hopin'" – 3:26
# "Arlene" – 3:37
# "Pony" – 3:13
# "One Way Up" – 3:19
# "Water Into Wine" – 3:12
# "Giant Ant" – 3:30
# "Everything That Rises Must Converge" – 2:50
# "Gorilla" – 3:37
# "The Last" – 3:36
# "Claire Said" - 3:41
# "Moving Furniture Around" - 3:03
# "Big Bad Wolf" - 3:18
# "She Awoke With A Jerk" - 4:19
# "Happy Harvest" - 2:35
Personnel
*The Handsome Family
**Brett Sparks - guitar, vocals, keyboards
**Rennie Sparks - bass, vocals, computer layout/design
**Mike Werner - drums, vocals, art direction
* Dave Trumfio: acoustic guitar tracks 5, 7 and keyboards tracks 1, 4, 12
*Michael Hagler: 2nd guitar track 10, piano track 4
*Steve Thomas: pedal steel tracks 2, 5
* Mike Werner - art direction
* Diane Murphy - band photo
* Sheila Sachs - computer layout/design[cf. Brett & Rennie Sparks (1994): Credits. In ''Odessa'' D booklet Chicago: Carrot Top Records.]
References
External links
The Handsome Family official website
{{Authority control
1994 debut albums
Carrot Top Records albums
The Handsome Family albums