With the release of the debut record from Joe Westerlund's Grandma Sparrow cleanly on the horizon, those who haven't had the chance to see Grandma Sparrow's wildly brilliant and artfully comedic live show get a bit of the unique experience in bits and pieces. First was "This Is My Wheelhouse" and album ender "Farewell Bolero" and today, arguably one of my favorite tracks gets its time in the spotlight: "Existential Mothersnakes". There's little explanation for the track itself or how it fits into the story of Grandma Sparrow's Piddletractor but that has very little to do with the enjoyment of it.
In fact a lot of the lyrics even in the context of the live show are eyebrow-raising, head-stratchers and the delivery is subtler on the album edit but there's no denying it's an infectious pop jam nevertheless. Grandma Sparrow and his cohorts go full out - there's strings, brass, soulful backing vocals that run counter to Westerlund's understated delivery, it's got pretty much everything you could ask for as Westerlund challenges the listener's sense of ear-catching. It's the kind of song that gets stuck in your head even as you're not exactly sure what you're singing a long to. Essentially making it the adult equivalent of those catchy children's infotainment shows.
Grandma Sparrow's debut Grandma Sparrow & His Piddletractor Orchestra is out May 20th on Matthew E. White's Spacebomb Records. The album is now streaming in full over at Spin so go ahead and take a listen.
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