May 28, 2021 By Mark Redfern

Welcome to the 20th Songs of the Week of 2021. This week, Republicans successfully blocked a commission that would have probed the January 6 storming of the Capitol. More

May 28, 2021 By Mark Redfern

Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael) have shared a new song, “So May We Start,” that also features actors Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, and Simon Helberg. The song is taken from the musical film, Annette, directed by Leos Carax (Holy Motors) and starring Driver, Cotillard, and Helberg. The Mael brothers co-wrote the film with Carax and wrote all the music for it (and also appear in the film). More

May 13, 2021 By Mark Redfern

A new trailer for The Sparks Brothers, Edgar Wright’s upcoming documentary on Los Angeles art-rock legends Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael), has been shared. It showcases many of the notable musicians, actors, and writers interviewed in the documentary, but also displays some of the Mael brothers’ signature wit. More

Jul 06, 2020 By Samantha Small

Los Angeles brother duo, Sparks ( Ron and Russell Mael) released a new album, A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, in May via BMG. To follow in the fun, they recently shared a wacky video for track “Existential Threat.” Watch the video below. More

May 18, 2020 By Christopher Roberts

Los Angeles legends Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael) released a new album, A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, last Friday via BMG. Now that the album’s out you can stream the whole thing below. They also recently shared a typically amusing video for the album’s “Lawnmower.” More

Feb 19, 2020 By Christopher Roberts

Los Angeles legends Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael) are releasing a new album, A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, on May 15 via BMG. Now they have shared another song from it, “Self-Effacing,” via a lyric video for it. They have also revealed the album’s tracklist. More

Jan 28, 2020 By Christopher Roberts

Los Angeles legends Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael) have announced a new album, A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip. There are also other exciting 2020 projects in the works for the duo, including a documentary on the band directed by British auteur Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver) and a musical film, Annette, directed by Leos Carax (Holy Motors) and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. More

Oct 20, 2017 By Christopher Roberts

Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of our Fall 2017 Issue, which is out now digitally via Under the Radar’s app and the magazine app Readly. The print version has shipped out to subscribers and stores and will be on all newsstands soon (as well as available soon digitally via the magazine app Zinio). The issue features Julien Baker on the cover. More

Aug 29, 2017 By Christopher Roberts

Eccentric Los Angeles legends Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael) are releasing a new album, Hippopotamus, on September 8 via BMG. Previously they shared a video for its title track, a video for another song from the album, “What the Hell Is It This Time?” (which posited that God gets a little tired of people over-praying to him all the time for trivial things), and the audio for “Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me).” More

Jul 28, 2017 By Christopher Roberts

Eccentric Los Angeles legends Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael) are releasing a new album, Hippopotamus, on September 8 via The End Records. More

May 16, 2017 By Christopher Roberts

Eccentric Los Angeles legends Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael) are releasing a new album, Hippopotamus, on September 8 via The End Records. More

Mar 28, 2017 By Christopher Roberts

Los Angeles legends Sparks have announced a new album, Hippopotamus, and shared a video for its title track. The album is due out September 8. More

Nov 20, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

Los Angeles legends Sparks have kept busy in 2015 with FFS, their collaboration with Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand that released their self-titled debut album back in June via Domino. But they’ve also found time to record a new holiday song, “Christmas Without a Prayer.” More

Oct 15, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

FFS, the collaboration between Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand and Los Angeles legends Sparks, released their self-titled debut album back in June via Domino and it’s really one of the best records from a super-group in recent memory, seamlessly blending both artists’ sounds into something new and exciting. More

Oct 14, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

FFS, the collaboration between Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand and Los Angeles legends Sparks, released their self-titled debut album back in June via Domino. Last night the supergroup showed up on The Late Late Show with James Corden. They performed “Police Encounters.” More

Aug 04, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

FFS, the collaboration between Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand and Los Angeles legends Sparks, released their self-titled debut album back in June via Domino. More

Jul 29, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

Yoko Ono has announced a new album. It’s not due out until January 22, 2016 (is this the first notable album to get a confirmed 2016 release date?) and it’s titled Yes, I’m a Witch Too, making it the sequel 2007’s Yes, I’m a Witch. Like that record, this one is a collaborative album. Every song is a collaboration between Ono and a different artist. This one includes collaborations with Death Cab for Cutie, tUnE-yArDs, Sparks, Peter Bjorn and John, Cibo Matto, Portugal the Man, Miike Snow, Penguin Prison, and of course her son, Sean Lennon, among others. More

Jun 08, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

FFS, the collaboration between Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand and Los Angeles legends Sparks, are releasing their self-titled debut album tomorrow via Domino and now we have the video for “Piss Off.” More

Jun 01, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

FFS, the collaboration between Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand and Los Angeles legends Sparks, are releasing their self-titled debut album next week via Domino. More

May 28, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

FFS, the collaboration between Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand and Los Angeles legends Sparks, have shared a new single entitled “Call Girl.” It’s the latest song to be revealed from their self-titled debut album, which is due out June 9 via Domino. More

May 20, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

FFS is a collaboration between Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand and Los Angeles legends Sparks. It’s an inspired matchup to be sure and seems to work based on what we’ve heard so far. Their self-titled debut album is out June 9 via Domino and now we have the video for “Johnny Delusional.” More

Apr 01, 2015 By Trevor Flynn

Glasgow, Scotland-based rock band Franz Ferdinand has joined forces with legendary Los Angeles duo Sparks to form the super-group FFS, announcing the release of their self-titled debut, due out June 9 via via Domino Records. More

Feb 07, 2014 By Mike Hilleary

Still touring behind their latest LP Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, Franz Ferdinand have apparently been secretly collaborating on a joint album with veteran synth duo Sparks. More

Oct 28, 2013 By Mark Redfern

We sent out the same set of Halloween-related questions to a bunch of different musicians. All Halloween week we are posting their responses. Here are some spooky answers from Sparks, Wooden Shjips, White Hills, Audacity, and His Clancyness. More

Nov 27, 2017 By Matt Fink

After 45 years and 25 albums, Sparks’ multi-instrumentalist Ron Mael admits that writing songs is no easier now than it was when he started making music in Los Angeles in 1968 with his little brother, Russell. More

Nov 03, 2015 By Matt Fink

FFS—an acronym meaning “For Fuck’s Sake” in text lingo—is what many people probably thought when they heard that Scottish indie rockers Franz Ferdinand and Los Angeles art-pop legends Sparks were attempting to join together in one band under that moniker. Or at least that’s what Franz Ferdinand vocalist and songwriter Alex Kapranos suspects, a possibility that seems to please him to no end. More

Oct 28, 2013 By Mark Redfern

We sent out the same set of Halloween-related questions to a bunch of different musicians. All Halloween week we are posting their responses. Here are some spooky answers from Sparks, Wooden Shjips, White Hills, Audacity, and His Clancyness. More

Mar 31, 2022 By Hays Davis

As part of the biggest run of North American dates in their career, Sparks found a wildly receptive audience for their sold-out show Washington DC’s Lincoln Theatre. On a roll following last year’s well-received The Sparks Brothers documentary and their soundtrack to the film Annette, singer Ron Mael and keyboardist Russell Mael led their band through a setlist that moved freely through their five decades of recording. More

Nov 29, 2013 By Hays Davis

At the very least, the brothers Ron and Russell Mael, otherwise known as Sparks, deserve a trophy for perseverance. Over the course of more than four decades, Sparks’ artistic evolution has been intriguing, even if that meant denting the Billboard charts only occasionally. More