#3021 Sparks - Introducing

Undeniably part of the post-magic 2nd-era genre-driven (Beach-Boys-style pop) Sparks. But wildly better than it gets credit for (way better than Big Beat, say), full of classic melodies, arch asides, joyous convergences. Forever Young's a classic, staking a claim to the basic melody way before the better-known song of the same name, and Occupation's got a message various waves of post-punk are still catching up to. Also, I'm pretty sure Big Surprise is about transexual optimism. I honestly can't tell if these guys are meathead shitheads or pre-Queen queer geniuses or both 4/5