Frankie Sparo - The Red Scare
(Constellation)
The most striking feature to The Red Scare is
its sparseness. Many of the songs feature only an
occasional guitar strum, undergirded with skeletal
beats and the occasional additional instrument.
Sparo's vocal technique is much like Arab Strap's,
sounding like its coming from inside a bottle.
This formula is, almost without exception, quite
successful at creating a palpable atmosphere.
"Diminish Me NYC" is a particularly apt example of
this sparseness. Sparo's slurred vocals are accented
by a simple quivering organ theme and the occasional
guitar strum.
This album while, for the most part, holding its
own could easily be lost among the other similarly
themed artists, ranging from Will Oldham to Arab
Strap. Overall, however, the album is worth returning
to and does add some interesting texture to the genre.
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