1) Homecoming Queen; 2) Weird Sisters; 3) 850 Double Pumper Holley; 4) Rainmaker; 5) Spirit Ditch; 6) Tears on Fresh Fruit; 7) Saturday; 8) Cow; 9) Little Bastard Choo Choo; 10) Hammering the Cramps; 11) Most Beautiful Widow in Town; 12) Heart of Darkness; 13) Ballad of a Cold Lost Marble; 14) Someday I Will Treat You Good; 15) Sad & Beautiful World; 16) Gasoline Horseys
Sparklehorse at their most lucid; still slotting nicely into the wave of 90s indie eccentrics. Classic US indie sound but something's still amiss.
Key tracks: "Saturday", "Cow", "Someday I Will Treat You Good"
An important part of the Sparklehorse mythology is Mark Linkous’ accidental drug overdose: both Linkous’ mindset and music changed permanently after the incident that rendered him clinically dead for a few fleeting moments and which he never really recovered from fully. The traditional Sparklehorse elements consist of a beautiful haziness, an oddly uplifting melancholy and a frail joy to be alive despite how aching it can be. Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot was Linkous’ only album recorded under the Sparklehorse moniker before his near-death experience and it lacks the overaching atmosphere and mood that dominates all the other Sparklehorse albums. It’s strikingly lucid: lively, clear and often without any filters or vocal effects. If Linkous’ overdose sent him to an everlasting melancholy weariness (which would, sadly, ultimately be the end of him), on Vivadixie he’s wide awake.
Without that haze Linkous slots in nicely within the mid/late-90s US alternative/indie scene - very quirky and eager to play by its own rules but equally very tuneful, with the dry production and tight band interplay associated with the sound. Linkous is backed here by members of Cracker whose experience playing together translates even to his songs and while it’s clear that he’s in charge, there’s an attempt here to present Sparklehorse as a full, real band, certainly moreso than later on. Linkous’ penchant for fragile beauty is already showing up but it’s frequently interrupted by moments of interspersed wild liveliness and borderline raucousness, filtered through his usual surrealist lyrical imagery. The ramshackle “Rainmaker” and “Hammering the Cramps”, the honest-to-god unabashed alternative anthem “Someday I Will Treat You Good” and especially the absurd, banjo-twiddling, guitar-revving alternate dimension stadium anthem “Cow” show off Linkous’ whimsy and vigour that would largely get buried underneath later on. They’re also Vivadixie at their best - the album really comes to life when the band do as well and in particular “Cow” is a standout moment in the whole Sparklehorse discography, even if it’s hindered by its pivotal hook moment being something as (intentionally) inane as “pretty girl, milking a cow”. But then, that too is part of the consciously odd charm.
The tender side of Sparklehorse that would later on become the defining one is still a running presence throughout Vivadixie, though favouring sparser arrangements as a contrast to the more energetic full-band plays. They are good songs - and the chorus of “Saturday” features one of Linkous’ all time loveliest melodies - but there’s plenty of them and they all rely on the same bag of tricks. It doesn’t make e.g. “Spirit Ditch” or “Sad & Beautiful World” any less pretty, but they do start to run samey as they start piling up. Linkous had already been active in music for quite a while before this album, but there is a hint of him still figuring out his solo voice here - it’s very much a diamond in the rough kind of debut, and it’s most apparent in the calmer moments you can’t help but compare with all the similar ones from the later albums.
The matter of the fact is that for me, the reason I fell in love with Sparklehorse was that overarching, wistful beauty that covers the music all across his later albums. While generally Linkous’ is by and far the same songwriter here as he would always be, the particular mood and resonant atmosphere that really make his music are missing. There are other elements filling those gaps on Vivadixie but there are rough edges here and there, both in form of songs that are almost there but not quite yet, as well as in decisions like including the completely pointless, sound collage-esque interludes. Linkous would later on go to say that he had little idea what he was going for with the album and you can get a sense of that, even if the music’s really good. Vivadixie is arguably the least of the four Sparklehorse albums, but you could still confidently say thjat it’s nonetheless a borderline essential album in his small discography, thanks to its high points. And in addition, it’s an interesting glimpse into Linkous’ sound without its most identifiable element - the start of a what-could-have-been path before it got derailed into a different direction.
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