Sparks in a Dark Room
| Sparks in a Dark Room | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Minny Pops | ||||
| Released | May 1982 | |||
| Recorded | Late 1981 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 35:28 | |||
| Label | Factory Benelux | |||
| Producer | Minny Pops | |||
| Minny Pops chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Muzik | (favourable) |
| Peek-a-boo | (9/10) |
| Q | (favourable) |
| Uncut | (favourable) |
Sparks in a Dark Room is the second studio album by Dutch experimental electronic post-punk/ultra band Minny Pops. After signing to Factory Benelux in 1982 following their "noisy" and "goofy" debut album Different Measures, Drastic Movement (1979), the band settled into a new, less aggressive sound featuring influences of industrial music and funk. Recording Sparks in a Dark Room in late 1981, the band headed for a more clinical and clean sound. Considered a high point of the ultra movement, the record features cold, electronic tones and darkly humorous lyrics from lead singer and songwriter Wally van Middendorp.
Released by Factory Benelux in May 1982, the album was not a commercial success, being an underground album, but its critical standing, initially overlooked, became increasingly positive over the years. The album has since been regarded as a lost classic. Uncut described it as an "under-the-radar-masterpiece" whilst Careless Talk said it "places Minny Pops squarely within the realm of an early 80s interface that pitched accessible pop conveniences and electronic experimentation in the same arena." Today it is considered part of the origins of dark wave and industrial dance music. The album was remastered and re-released in March 2003 by LTM with numerous bonus tracks, and by Factory Benelux in March 2014 with even more bonus material, namely a live album recorded at the Melkweg in 2012.
Minny Pops were formed in Amsterdam in 1978 by vocalist Wally Van Middendorp. The band took their name from the primitive Korg drum machine which propelled their austere, post-punk rhythms and provocative live performances. The band made their recording debut in 1979 on the label Plurex, operated by van Middendorp himself. The three-track seven-inch single contained "Kojak," on which Van Middendorp impersonated Telly Savalas' TV character of the same name with lines like "If you make more money, you make fewer friends." Later on in the year, the band released their debut album Drastic Measures, Drastic Movement, showcasing the band's "lean, mechanical sketches and abrasive noise diversions."Brainwashed called it "a bizarre mix of noise, new wave, synth pop, and Yello-like cabaret goofiness. It is one of the most genuinely tweaked documents of DIY electro-pop, a record which to this day causes heads to be scratched in satisfying bewilderment."
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