Real alternative music doesn’t limit itself, and neither do the acts that make it professionally. Major Spark doesn’t have a restriction on the content they develop, and in the new singles “Run Run Run” and “Beautiful Noise,” this musician/producer duo makes it clear how much they care about creative duality. “Run Run Run” has a swinging power-pop beat and crisp guitars that could have come right out of a Weezer record, while “Beautiful Noise” is a nocturnal dance single, pushing us with its might but not its minimalist melodies, and in either track, we’re getting quality showmanship you don’t find every day in the underground.
The percussion is usually what helps the flow of the dancefloor even more than a hot bassline, and it’s the one element in “Beautiful Noise” that has more to say than the vocals do. It’s dotting the landscape and creating a path for both us and the melodies to follow, melding a bit of AV Super Sunshine-esque electronic rock with a more deliberate groove than what I’m used to hearing in this kind of apiece. Instrumentally this is a star work, although its structure doesn’t allow the harmonies to go quite as far as they could have.
I really enjoyed the music video for “Run Run Run” because of its old-fashioned aesthetic, which doesn’t feel very out of date when this band is putting it to work. There are some artists that are able to make a classic look seem like a modern vibe, and whether they were trying to do this or not I think that Major Spark does a fine job of bringing a bit of the past – perhaps the best part for some alternative rock fans – into a future where it’s still able to exist and sound relevant.
Alternative music aficionados who don’t already have Major Spark on their radar would do well to keep tabs on what they’re working on right now, because if they can capitalize on the momentum behind these two singles I think they’re going to make even more complete material for their fans sooner than later. They’ve already got a handle on the multidimensionality of their music, and now it’s just a matter of making even more out of what they’ve already got. Tone and texture aside, the songwriting here is simple and able to give them a decent template through which they can demonstrate a lot of real skill together.
