1996年，Sparklehorse名副其实地以乡村迷幻式的忧伤和美丽，发行了他们的第一张专辑——《Viva Dixie Submarine Transmission Plot》。 　　Mark Linkous，担任Sparklehorse的词曲作者，编曲及主唱。他的声音拥抱着无法想象的脆弱，缓缓爬上你心头的《Homecoming Queen》，《Most Beautiful Widow in Town》和《Heart of Darkness》，noisy pop式的《Rainmaker》和《Hammering the Cramps》，noise blasts式 《Ballad of a Cold Lost Marble》和《850 Double Pumper Holley》。这张专辑最有魅力的地方在于他们在传统乡村民谣的基础上，以自己的方式——精心的编曲，扭曲的声音和特殊的吉他回响来影射生活中人人皆知的辛辣。《Heart of Darkness》与《Homecoming Queen》以一种特殊的，午夜甜蜜式的虚弱传达了另人同情的诚实的怀疑主义。《Someday I Will Treat You Good》则揭发了很多电台歌曲的虚伪与无病呻吟，朴素如《Saturday》和《Sad & Beautiful World》则彻底抒发出了他们的忧郁情节。 　　无论音乐领域有多么广阔，《Viva Dixie Submarine Transmission Plot》都以它独特的方式述说了平凡的生活，幸福的瞬间，忧伤，噪音以及生命的平静。 　　Sparklehorse's 1996 full-length debut, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot, has even more sad, beautiful, weird moments of spacy, rural folk-rock than it does letters in its name. Primarily the project of singer/songwriter/guitarist Mark Linkous, Sparklehorse's sound embraces impossibly frail, cobwebby ballads like the album opener "Homecoming Queen," "Most Beautiful Widow in Town," and "Heart of Darkness"; sun-drenched, noisy pop like "Rainmaker" and "Hammering the Cramps"; and noise blasts like "Ballad of a Cold Lost Marble" and "850 Double Pumper Holley." The album's most powerful moments borrow from folk and country traditions, alluding to their universally understood poignancy, while updating and personalizing them with spacy arrangements, distorted vocals, and slivers of feedback. "Heart of Darkness" and "Homecoming Queen" in particular have a woozy, late-night sweetness that conveys a touching, if unstable, honesty. The single "Someday I Will Treat You Good" molds this vulnerability into a radio song, with catchy and affecting results, but it's the shambling, understated songs like "Saturday" and "Sad & Beautiful World" that define the group's down-to-earth melancholy. Despite covering some expansive musical territory, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot doesn't sound scattered so much as spontaneous, reflecting the happy, sad, noisy, and quiet moments in life.