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You can't help but smile when you hear Sparrows lead singer Carter Albrecht open up the Dallas band's new album Snowflakes with his best Frank Sinatra impression. 

Ol' Blue Eyes, you say? Well, maybe that's a stretch, but there's no mistaking the loungey smoothness of his voice on the opening track "All Time Low." 

Albrecht, an adventurous singer and multi-instrumentalist who has an uncanny habit of sounding like an Americanized David Bowie, has stretched himself and his band since 2002's more straightforward rock record "Rock and Roll Days." 

Albrecht's theatrical vocal qualities and classical piano training serve him well on Snowflakes. Why he isn't a full-fledged rock star by now is still a mystery. 

This time out Albrecht and his bandmates - guitarists Ward Williams and Danny Balis, bassist Dave Monsey and drummer Brant Cole, who replaced Bryan Wakeland now with the pastel-colored, robe-wearing cult band the Polyphonic Spree - are in sync and sound as though they're having a good time. 

"I hope there's a heaven," Albrecht sings passionately on the melancholy guitar-pop track "Am I Still Loaded." 

Albrecht's distorted vocals on the rockin' song "Snowflake" give the song a gritty flavor while "My Beautiful Life" takes a more introspective path into sensitive acoustic territory reminiscent of Gordon Lightfoot. 

"I Need to Hear a Quieter Song" is deceptive starting slow and dreamy, but it soon builds into a cacophony of pop mastery complete with minty fresh "ooh ooh's" and lyrics that proclaim "My favorite part about life is living too much." 

Then we get into classical territory with Albrecht playing "Moonlight" which is a portion of Beethoven's famous sonata from Opus 27, No. 2. This piece runs right into mid-tempo rocker called "2nd Hand Sunshine." 

Williams, it should be noted, adds a lot to a number of the songs here with his slide guitar effects, particularly on the anthemic "The Dallas Curse," a song that brings to mind a young Elvis Costello. 

If anything, Sparrows have progressed in a major way--musically and lyrically. Why Sparrows aren't headlining concerts from coast-to-coast and getting serious radio airplay is beyond me. Good stuff. 

Andrew West Griffin 11/28/04