I discovered Andrew Bird and the Handsome Family at about the same time, in about 1998. Both were based in Chicago, but their music couldn’t have been much farther apart. Fiddler Bird and his Bowl of Fire were playing an eclectic mix of hot jazz inspired Americana, Roma dances, Nordic wedding tunes, tangos, and geek-rock; the Handsome Family were playing mordant country music and Appalachian murder ballads with a touch of punk rock. Both have gone on to become leading avatars of different expressions of Americana. They’ve toured together a time or two, and Bird has recorded a few of their songs. This summer he released a whole album of them, and they’re superb.
Most of the 10 songs on Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of … are from early Handsome Family albums. The main exception is “Frogs Singing” from their most recent release Wildlife. He gives it a stirring gospel treatment that suits it perfectly. That’s the case with his choices on all of these songs. The original country shuffle of “Tinfoil” becomes the sprightly waltz of “Tin Foiled” with Bird strumming his fiddle like a uke:
Elsewhere, he creates a stirring Celtic-style fiddle line for his poignant rendition of “My Sister’s Tiny Hands.” And his arrangement of the currently popular “Far From Any Road” is suitably dusty and haunting. The accompaniment by his band, which he’s calling The Hands of Glory, is spot-on, particularly Tift Merritt’s guitar and harmony vocals.
This album demonstrates what great songs the Handsome Family’s Rennie and Brett Sparks have written over the past 25 years. In their original gothic country settings, the tenderness and beauty may not always be apparent to the casual listener, but Andrew Bird has found the beating heart of each of these lovely gems.
(Wegawam, 2014)
