True Detective and The Handsome Family

Some people are starting to compare HBO's True Detective to Breaking Bad. I won't go that far yet. But like the saga of Walter White, True Detective does show one small aspect of New Mexico culture

While watching the latest episode of True Detective last night, I realized that a lot of folks might not realize that the show's opening song each week is done by New Mexico's own Handsome Family, Brett & Rennie Sparks of Albuquerque.

The song is "Far From Any Road," from perhaps my favorite Handsome Family album, Singing Bones. Back when I reviewed it in November 2003, I called it "a gringo-mariachi murder ballad," and said "I had to check the credits to make sure Calexico wasn’t backing them on this song."

Here's a video of the song:



And below is a radio interview I did with Brett and Rennie last year around the time they release their latest album Wilderness. I didn't know about True Detective at the time, so I didn't ask.

Santa Fe Opry 4-26-13 with Handsome Family interview by Steve Terrell on Mixcloud