Album Review: Sparks - Hippopotamus

Having begun in the early '70s and delivered everything from glam and electro to symphonic pop, Sparks have enjoyed a musical career unlike anyone else's.

Hippopotamus represents yet another surprising turn. Doing away with the orchestral sound that rejuvenated their profile in the 2000s, the duo's latest album is reverb-heavy indie-pop that sounds remarkably of a piece with their contemporary acolytes (Kurt Vile, Vampire Weekend). With their typically rock-solid songwriting and unique lyrical weirdness, it doesn't sound so much like older artists chasing the zeitgeist as popular music finally catching up to a pair of visionaries.