The Handsome Family

Ghosts of country music past reverberate beautifully in the bluegrass tenor of Handsome Family front man Brett Sparks. But somewhere deep beneath the eerie echo of Appalachia, shadowing the Carter Family influence, tucked behind the Autoharps, banjos, and lap steels—somewhere there seems to be an inside joke between this husband-and-wife team. All those death-obsessed compositions are spiked with some underlying silliness, an admirable trait that’s too easily lost amid the sparse acoustics off their studio releases. The irony in sad little yarns about suicidal welfare moms and haunted Wal-Mart stores is best felt alongside the Handsome Family’s old-timey stage presence. Brett Sparks intermittently wears Willie Nelson’s lethargy and Buck Owens’ shit-eating grin. 318 1st Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-338-8100; www.finelinemusic.com