‘No. 1 in Heaven Starring Travels With Brindle’ saddles up to a Sparks classic
Chelsea Spear’s lo-fi ukulele power-pop project reimagines Sparks’ classic 1979 album in full on Friday, March 7
Title track out and single release show at Lilypad in Cambridge set for February 7
Listen to Travels With Brindle: Bandcamp // YouTube // Spotify
“An extremely gifted songwriter with a golden ukulele, Chelsea Spear is an American treasure” – Jersey Beat
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Photo Credit: Krzystina Calderone for Vintage Girl Studios
CAMBRIDGE, MA [March 7, 2025] – In the summer of 2023, Chelsea Spear, the creative force behind Boston ukulele power-pop project Travels With Brindle, found herself at a crossroads. She had just released her Notes From Undergrad album, a labor of love inspired by the literary stylings of Elif Batuman that took three years to complete, only to soon lose the temp job she loved and discover the anticipated follow-up project to the record had fallen through. So she did what any person would do to get their swagger back: She went to see Sparks perform live.
The iconic Los Angeles art-rock band was in town playing The Wilbur as part of their world tour, a little over two years after Edgar Wright’s well-received documentary The Sparks Brothers helped bring the Brothers Mael back into the pop culture spotlight.
“Watching the joy in their performance reconnected me with why I made music,” Spear admits. “A few days later, I was listening to No. 1 in Heaven while making dinner and the melodic and rhythmic similarities between the songs on the album and the music of early 20th century vaudeville and music hall struck me. I also wanted to work on something that would make me happy, and the original No. 1 in Heaven is one of my favorite albums.”
Fast-forward nearly two years, and Spear’s vision is fully brought to life. Travels With Brindle is set to release her fully licensed cover version of the album, No. 1 in Heaven Starring Travels With Brindle, on Friday, March 7 – roughly 46 years to the day the Ron and Russell Mael unveiled the Giorgio Moroder-produced 1979 classic.
No. 1 in Heaven Starring Travels With Brindle, made possible by a successful 2024 Kickstarter project, recorded at the Boston Public Library, and endorsed by WBUR, Boston’s NPR as one of the most anticipated Boston records of Winter 2025, is both faithful and unfaithful to the original.
It features all six tracks – including lead single “Tryouts For The Human Race,” released last fall, and the forthcoming title track, hitting the streams on Friday, February 7 with a release party that night with Eliza Howells at the Lilypad in Cambridge and a music video filmed at Bellforge Arts Center arriving less than a week later on February 13.
“A lot of the covers of Sparks tend to stay close to the original versions of the songs,” Spear notes. “I think they’d appreciate the originality! Beyond that, I think Ron — who favors rap and heavy metal — would be disappointed that it’s not aggressive enough.”
Spear says she was drawn to the enduring legacy of these tracks, and allowing some room for reinvention falls well in line with the Sparks ethos. No. 1 In Heaven Starring Travels With Brindle – her second covers record after 2018’s I Love You Like A Cover, where she took on Alex Lahey’s debut album – showcases more than just ukulele; it draws in the creative world around her.
Across these six tracks, Spear performs ukulele, vocals, finger snaps, shaker, and torn-paper snare drum, as heard on the George Formby-inspired “Tryouts For the Human Race,” the September single that was arranged by Sage Harrington of Ukulele Swing School. Circe Red performs a tap dance, engineered by William Hall Esq., on the propulsive “Academy Award Performance”; and Tyler Hauer delivers the trumpet on “La Dolce Vita,” giving it a new sense of buoyancy. Vocals on the record were engineered by Joel Edinberg, it was mastered by Joshua Cohen, and Spear mixed the album and engineered the ukulele.
Her favorite moment on the album is the solo she performs on “Beat the Clock,” which was arranged by Christopher Davis-Shannon with a mix of the classic Formby style that Spear adores with how it sounds on the original. “I worked so hard to get it right,” she admits. “I was dancing in the lab after I nailed it!” And she has a particular fondness for “My Other Voice,” which borrows inspiration from "Singin' in the Rain" and Jiminy Cricket musician and actor Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards.
Spear feels these new interpretations of long-standing tracks align with how Sparks changed the game nearly 50 years ago.
“I think Sparks has endured for over half a century (!) because they’re always innovating,” she adds. “For No. 1 in Heaven, they could have kept releasing classic rock albums like Kimono My House, but they sought out disco producer Giorgio Moroder instead, and they’ve dabbled in contemporary classical music as well as more straightforward rock and roll.”
Travels With Brindle’s effort closes with the title track, an obvious choice for the next single and last before the record’s March release. It’s the first Sparks song heard in Wright’s documentary, and has long been a staple of their live shows.
“The original version of the song feels like a dance party at the end of the world, and the note for my version was that I wanted it to sound like a lullaby,” Spear says. “Releasing it as a single seemed like a good way of letting listeners know what to expect.”
Spear and longtime collaborator Will Hall shot the “Number One Song In Heaven” video at Bellforge Arts Center in Medfield, the historic site of the former Medfield State Hospital that is now a blossoming creative arts hub.
“My two aesthetic touchstones for that were the black and white scenes from the Powell & Pressburger movie A Matter of Life And Death, and the bathtub Mary statues you see in suburban homes throughout the commonwealth,” Spear says with a laugh. “I wanted something both otherworldly and old, and I think the weathered bricks and the pastoral shots of cloudy skies and open fields captured that feeling!”
Something old, something new. It’s all part of the charm of Sparks, and now extends into the world of Travels With Brindle. Some things, like this, just make sense.
“One of the things that hit me about Sparks is how effective they are at pastiche and at making genres their own,” Spear concludes. “It feels like they learn the rules of a genre just so they can subvert them. I’m thinking about the Gilbert and Sullivan-influenced songs on Indiscreet in particular, and the way they twisted light opera and patter songs to make something like ‘Without Using Hands,’ with the horror of its final punchline. The fact that Sparks inspire such strong feelings among their fanbase also lends itself well to cover songs – you can hear the joy in the recording.”
It’s a joy Spear knows all too well. She lived it.
Media Contact: Please direct all press inquiries to Michael Marotta at michael@knyvet.com and reach Travels With Brindle directly at travelswithbrindle@gmail.com.
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‘No. 1 in Heaven Starring Travels With Brindle’ artwork:
Art Credit: Catherine Maddux
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‘No. 1 in Heaven Starring Travels With Brindle’ production credits:
All songs written by Ron and Russell Mael and Giorgio Moroder. (c) 1979. Published by BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited.
Recorded at the Boston Public Library
Chelsea Spear: Ukulele, vocals, finger snaps, torn-paper snare drum
Circe Red: Tap dance
Tyler Hauer: Trumpet
Vocals engineered by Joel Edinberg
Tap dance engineered by William Hall Esq.
Ukulele engineered and album mixed by Chelsea Spear
Mastered by Joshua Cohen
Sleeve art by Catherine Maddux
Press photo by Krzystina Calderone of Vintage Girl Studios
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Travels With Brindle short bio:
Chelsea Spear has been a music critic, a show promoter, a college radio host, and a video director… but all she really wanted to do was start a band. Not long after learning to play the ukulele, she formed the bedroom recording project Travels With Brindle. Her melodic original songs and wry, poignant lyrics have attracted a growing audience at open mics and busking pitches in the Greater Boston area. Spear is inspired by lo-fi songwriters and jangle pop acts of the 1980s and ‘90s, and her work has been compared to the Marine Girls, the Raincoats, Courtney Barnett, and Liz Phair. In June 2023, Travels With Brindle released debut album, Notes From Undergrad, led by a string of well-received singles, including “Ivan,” “Linden Street,” and “Something’s Wrong.” In late 2024, she began a Sparks covers project with the September release of “Tryouts For The Human Race,” with a full album reimagining of the art-rock band’s 1979 classic No. 1 In Heaven arriving in March 2025.
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Single release party at The Lilypad in Cambridge:
Advance tickets in information
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Media praise for Travels With Brindle covering Sparks:
“With nothing more than her charming voice, her uke, her finger-snapping and some torn paper acting as percussion, [Chelsea] Spear gives a very late 1970s record a surprisingly timeless feel and successfully pulls off this musical feat without ever making it sound gimmicky.” _WBUR, Boston’s NPR
“[Chelsea] Spear is a compelling performer no matter what she's doing, and her version of 'Tryouts for the Human Race' is more than the curiosity that a ukulele cover of a Sparks disco song could have been." – If It’s Too Loud
“...we can’t get enough of the sounds emanating from Chelsea Spear’s vibrant self who, on upcoming single 'Tryouts For The Human Race', handles vocals, ukulele, finger snaps, and torn paper snare. Yes, kids, 'Torn paper snare' as an instrument is a thing.” – Rock And Roll Fables
“Chelsea Spear is an artist in every sense of the word. Travels With Brindle is an artistic lens that Spear uses to artfully bring meaningful stories to life. [She] elegantly adds a wonderful new perspective on ‘Tryouts For The Human Race’ from Sparks.” – The Whole Kameese
“Spear has recently turned her attention to reconstructing songs from bands she adored. …No. 1 in Heaven was a record Spear longed to cover for she ‘hears something new every time’ that she listens, and Sparks became a panacea during a period of burnout. …Whether she is crafting her own songs are placing her unique perspective on the work of others, Travels with Brindle is a listening experience that stays with the listener.” – Jersey Beat
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Media praise for Travels With Brindle:
“Fantastic.” – Rock N Roll Fables
“Power pop ukulele — you can't go wrong with this. This is great stuff!” – Mark Skin Radio
“Chelsea Spear’s lo-fi ukulele pop project Travels With Brindle delivers a highly intelligent collection of songs that are simply brilliant.” – The Whole Kameese
“An extremely gifted songwriter with a golden ukulele, Chelsea Spear is an American treasure. If you do not believe me, listen to anything and then everything she released this year.” – Rich Quinlan in Jersey Beat’s Best of 2022
“[‘Switching Tracks’] is the kind of song that could sneak up on the mainstream, the way Belle & Sebastian do every so often. It has enough of a pop sensibility to appeal to (at least some of) the masses, but enough indie charm and quirk to entice us music snobs.” – If It’s Too Loud
“...it's clear that Chelsea Spear (aka Travels with Brindle) is picking up even more momentum and speed with every single stop along the way - 'Switching Tracks' is a poppier stop, the opening warm and welcoming as it embarks on a journey of realization.” – Tour Bus Tunes
“Melancholic mellowness.” – Turn Up The Volume
“[Linden Street’ is] as glorious and refreshing as the first crisp, autumn morning… Spear’s brand of melancholy exposes a raw humanity in a poignant and brave manner… [it’s] the closest Spear has come to achieving perfection.” – Jersey Beat
“Travels With Brindle creates harmonies that balance on the line of folk and indie-rock singer/songwriter, an artist loaded with stories to share... 'Linden Street' sets the intriguing tone and curiosity to hear what the next single of this trilogy will bring.” – I’m Music Magazine
“‘Something's Wrong’ is going to immediately remind you of The Magnetic Fields, especially Claudia Gonson's songs. It has that stripped down quality along with a storytelling feel to it. It's almost even more theatrical than you would get with The Magnetic Fields despite having bare instrumentation. A lyric like ‘I read his emails by the glow of the Coke machine’ just sets a mood completely. ‘Something's Wrong’ is going to be nearly impossible to resist for many of us.” – If It’s Too Loud
“Once a busker on the streets of Boston, Chelsea Spear is now performing in venues, and she’s not afraid to get a little spooky.” – The Lynn Item
“The [‘I Want U’] video, directed by Vanessa Mark and shot in Central and Harvard squares, is inspired by Spear’s experiences busking – ‘You run into a lot of interesting people, folks who maybe need a therapist as well as people who are very enthusiastic about music,’ she says – and proves that things go more smoothly with a dinosaur by your side.” – Cambridge Day
“Chelsea Spear makes her ukulele rock throughout a collection of six poignant tracks.” – Jersey Beat
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Press Contact: Michael O’Connor Marotta at michael@knyvet.com
Artist Contact: Chelsea Spear at travelswithbrindle@gmail.com
HOMEPAGE . SPOTIFY . BANDCAMP . YOUTUBE . INSTAGRAM . X . FACEBOOK . LINKTREE . KICKSTARTER
