Husband and wife duo Brett and Rennie Sparks are collectively known as The
Handsome Family. Occasionally joined by other musicians such as Alex McMahon
playing guitars and keyboard and Jason Toth playing guitars and synthesizers,
they sing otherworldly tales, ghost stories and ballads written by lyricist
Rennie who came to the band as a fiction writer. The band's first album 'Odessa'
(1995) had a punk/rock feel to it, and did not garner much notice expect for the
track 'Arlene' being banned from some radio stations because of its subject
matter of a woman being beaten to death. T...