Sparks to perform all their albums

Think Ben Kweller was impressive performing three of his albums in their entirety in September? Or Lucinda Williams doing five of hers front to back on her last swing through town? The bar on albums in concert is soon to go up -- way up.

Sparks, L.A.’s long-running band fronted by brothers Ron and Russell Mael, will play every one of the albums they’ve released dating to 1972 over the course of a month in London.

“We thought that an ambitious (and insane!) concept like performing all of our 20 albums in their entirety, on consecutive nights would be the ideal buildup and context to then premiere our brand new 21st album,” Russell Mael told The Times by e-mail Wednesday. “It sets the proper tone for how strongly we feel about our new album.”

It’s billed as “Live! 21 Albums in 21 Nights!” and will span the group’s 1972 debut “Halfnelson/Sparks” through 2006’s “Hello Young Lovers.” The series runs May 16 to June 13.

-- Randy Lewis