Little Beards is the Dallas, TX synth rock duo of Nan Kirkpatrick and Sean Kirkpatrick. The group’s first album, 2017’s Midnight in the Garden of Chaotic Neutral, took listeners through the sleek world of mid-century America to reveal the emptiness underneath. Their second album, The Legend of Spectacular Living, is set three decades later and we’re in the heart of the crumbling empire. No one else is getting in on the ground floor. The golden days are over, and “remember when” is the lowest form of conversation. From the doom-inspired bass on “What’s The Point (It’s Funny)” to the machine-gun beats on “Acts of Violence”, The Legend of Spectacular Living tells the story of the end of empire through the world of The Sopranos. The music can be lush, melodic, and danceable, but will often coalesce into claustrophobia or disorder. Nan and Sean’s alternating vocals hover over synths, organs and pianos, looped exotica and string samples, distorted bass guitar, and drum machines. The six-song album revels in the feeling that underneath the expensive exterior, there’s no promise of a better future and the search for meaning always comes up empty. Everyone is haunted, chased by a past that promised so much more than what they’re getting in the end.