Edgar Wright's Documentary "The Sparks Brothers" Both Blew My Mind And Seriously Impressed Me

Apparently, I've been living under a rock.

So, if you're in the music biz, chances are you've probably heard of the band called Sparks. But, if you're like me, and a bit of a pleb when it comes to ~cool~ music, then you'll have no idea who I'm talking about. And that's where filmmaker — and self-proclaimed Sparks fanboy — Edgar Wright comes in.

@edgarwright

Just to set it up a bit, in the film, musician Jack Antonoff literally exclaims, "All pop music is rearranged Sparks. That's the truth." Bold words, I know.

You'll likely know Wright best for his action/comedy/all-around-fun movies like Baby Driver, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and the Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End). But now he can add "documentary filmmaker" to his growing list of achievements, thanks to The Sparks Brothers.

Richie Starzec / Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

Here's a behind-the-scenes pic of Wright filming the brothers in a Japanese airport.

The Sparks Brothers takes an in-depth look at the somewhat elusive, and certainly entertaining, brothers Ron and Russell Mael, their band called Sparks, and an impressive 50+ year career that has spawned 25 albums (!!!) and a serious cult following.

Michael Ochs Archives / Getty

From left: Russell and Ron.

One of the really amazing things about this documentary is that even though you probably haven't heard of Sparks, so many iconic musicians cite this groundbreaking group as both an influence and inspiration on their own careers — we're talking musicians like Beck, Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), John Taylor and Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran), Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Go's), Björk, Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand), Jack Antonoff, and even Paul freakin' McCartney, to name just a few.

Focus Features / Via youtube.com

Beyond the musicians, there are also many actors who appear in the doc and consider themselves huge fans, like Mike Myers, Fred Armisen, Lance Robertson, Patton Oswalt, and even The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino.

Like, Sparks were such a big deal at one point — mainly in the UK and Europe — that Paul McCartney actually dressed up as and impersonated Ron Mael in the music video for his song "Coming Up."

Gijsbert Hanekroot / Redferns / Getty, Paul McCartney / Columbia / Via youtube.com

Some of the other iconic musicians McCartney impersonated in his video included John Bonham (drummer for Led Zeppelin) and Buddy Holly.

And early on in their career, Queen literally had SECOND BILLING to them at a performance in the UK.

Focus Features / Via youtube.com

I mean...COME. ON.

The interviewees go on to explain that Sparks probably never made it really "big" in the US because they were ~weird~ and used a lot of comedy in both their songs and stage performances.

Focus Features / Via youtube.com

Also, it's interesting to note that Sparks is an AMERICAN band (Ron and Russell were born in Los Angeles, and live there today), as "British" as they seem.

Basically, Sparks are the unsung heroes of the music industry, and we all owe it to ourselves to learn more about them — as best as we can, anyway.

Eric Blum / Getty

So, yeah. 10/10, highly recommend watching this doc if you care anything at all about music!

Color yourself intrigued? Check out the official trailer here:

youtube.com

The Sparks Brothers will be released in theaters on June 18.