Albums by this artist

Gimme Fiction (2005)

Girls Can Tell (2001)

Concerts

April 9, 2003
Irving Plaza, New York

Spoon

Girls Can Tell

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» TROY CARPENTER | CO-DIRECTOR

Spoon Girls Can Tell Merge, 2001 RiYL: Elvis Costello, Dismemberment Plan, Pavement, Cursive, Wire's 154

Spoon has an intangible element of spirit to their music that really separates them from the pack. Today, bands tend to spring up on a moment's notice, easily blending into each other, not improving our world or adding to the rock tradition. The major and mid-major labels' rosters are chock full of "alternative" or "emo" rock bands that aren't staking their claim to much beyond giving us a hook or two to sing on the way to class one day.

Spoon is not one of these bands. Spoon has a knack. Girls Can Tell is not my favorite record of the past 10 years, but it has the kind of songs that will do more than just stick in your head for a few minutes. If you let them, these songs can make you think. They can become your good friends, console you or keep you company on a long road trip.

Songwriter/singer/guitarist Britt Daniels' voice is entrancing, gritty yet sensitive, and on Girls Can Tell, it finds its way to the top of the mix, guiding songs with a tireless sense of melody. Spoon can create so much from so little -- "The Fitted Shirt," for example, does wonders with its simple components (attractive beat, a couple solid guitar riffs, imagery about dad's clothes): tension overcome by melody, it yearns to simultaneously be something of a hard-edged anthem reminiscent of Helmet and a kindly, boisterous pop song, fitting to latter-period Pixies or Guided By Voices. Comparisons aside, it can also just kick your ass.

Haunting organ tones and some plinking vibraphone propel opener "Everything Hits At Once," an instant contender for indie single of the year. In the excellent "Believing Is Art," however, the vibraphone is supplanted by some astoundingly taut guitar work and a beat so infectious it's bound to cause drivers trouble figuring out how to tap along and still work the clutch. The album runs through a number of additional styles, from peppy hand-clap strutter "Take The Fifth" to melancholy final track "Chicago At Night," a smoky crooner which kinda sounds like a combination of the Dismemberment Plan's "Spider In The Snow" and Liz Phair's "Stratford-On-Guy" sucked through an American Music Club cigarette.

Listening to Girls Can Tell brings thoughts to mind like "what the hell was Elektra thinking for dropping these guys?" But then again, it's almost perfect that it's on Merge, who's probably put out as many "important" and "great" albums in the past couple years as anyone. However much Spoon might get tossed around, their resolve remains firm, their music is as strong as ever and they certainly deserve your attention.

TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.