Spoon Album: “Kill the Moonlight”

I first heard of the band of Austin, Texas indie rockers called Spoon when they performed on the famed PBS show "Austin City Limits" with Ben Kweller. When "Kill the Moonlight" was listed as one of Rolling Stone magazine's Top 50 Records of the Year, I decided to pick it up.

At first I thought that the singer, Britt Daniel, was doing his best Elvis Costello impression. But strangely, each time I listen to this CD, the resemblance to that new-wave troubadour grows smaller and smaller.

Another thing that struck me at first was how much SPACE there was on this album. The opening track, the superbly catchy "Small Stakes", only has organ and tambourine to accompany the vocals. But any [person] can make space, right? Ah, yes, that is true. It's how you USE THAT SPACE that makes great music. And Spoon does just that. On most songs there is just a sparse piano melody line, with drums and bass, to underscore Britt daniel's pleading and similarly simplistic lyrics.

I have made the comparison to Elvis Costello, and indeed, this band conjure up the spirits of punk/new-wave greats on a few songs. "Jonathon Fisk" reminds me of The Clash and "The Way We Get By" sounds like a New York Dolls demo. But these blokes are not just copying what others did in '77. Just listen to the fabulous "Paper Tiger" and tell me if Sid Vicious could ever be that compassionate or musically mature.

Although the album is barely 35 minutes long, it never seems like it is a short throwaway because the songs are of such high quality. From the human beatbox-based "Stay Don't Go" to the organic and slightly pschyadelic closer "Vittorio E.", "Kill the Moonlight" is one of the best and finest albums to have been released in 2002.

What's up with all this Pavement comparison? Pavement had their day and for all the clever word skills Malkmus Possessed they rarely captured me with any particular song. These guys are not Pavement and all I can say is...THANK GOD. From the first track Spoon had my full attention. My mouth was open and everything. I am sure a bug could have flew in or something. "Small Stakes" yes, lord. A track that feels so urgent. like they had to get the vocals out before the cholos waiting outside broke in. If I had to compare that particular song to anyone I would compare it to the Jam when that got their sound honed and got that melodic bounce going. It's more about the delivery than a direct sound alike. He sings in a Welleresque style on that track as well as "Jonathan Fisk" . I even get a Elvis Costello vibe from a few tracks too. Something in the way the song is sung. There is an immediacy to the tracks amongst the beat and pop. I love it. It keeps you sort of guessing when the guitar solos and typical pop polyforms will kick in...good news, kids...they don't. Spoon keeps it moving...never breaking stride.

I'm not sure what album Aidin Vaziri was listening to, but it certainly wasn't Spoon's Kill the Moonlight. I don't mean to pick on Mr. Vaziri, but I don't want the uninitiated to get the wrong sound in their minds. I love Pavement and The Fall, don't get me wrong, but Spoon doesn't sound a thing like either of them.

As for this album--it is a solid, cohesive record, without a weak track. In my opinion, it does not hit the highs of Series of Sneaks, nor the lows. There are 3 or 4 songs on Sneaks that I consider classics, but quite a bit of filler as well. After 9-10 listens, Moonlight is more consistently very good, but not great. Still worth buying, and definitely top ten for '02.

I don't know why I bought this CD except that Spoon was getting a lot of critical praise in some of the rags. One reviewer below said he listened to this record obsessively for a couple of months. I did the very same thing. I buy a ton of music and I tend to buy CDs for a given band in bunches. I bought Gimmie Fiction and Kill Moonlight in the same emptying of the bucket I do each month here at Amazon. Sometimes they sit for a month or two until I get to them, but when I get to them I give them fair play as they say in the UK. I'll probably get skewered by this from somebody, but I liken this record to The Dandy Warhols' Welcome To The Monkey House (great CD, check it out if you don't own it); it's good clean foot tapping fun across the board. The sweet spot on this record for me is from track four "Stay, Don't Go" through track eight in "Don't Let It Get You Down." They are all catchy, well written, and remind me of some other band somehow. I definitely do not mean that in a negative way. I'm now a fan for sure. I have over 3400 CDs and many of them are in and out of the carousel in one or two listens after the initial surge, but this one I keep skipping as I replace the other CDs. I can't quite explain it. I always seems to want to hear it one more time before I file it. That's when I know I've hit on something. I'm always in constant search of great records that nobody knows that are good all the way through and this one qualifies. Recommended. Good job Spoon if you are out there somewhere reading.

Spoon's last record, the excellent Girls Can Tell, was a polished pop-rock affair that bristled beneath its shiny sonic veneer, surprising many who believed that their major label casualty, Series of Sneaks, would not and could not be topped. Yet, Girls showed a band that was willing to grow and take risks; a band that was carving out a unique sound of their own from the moldering rock being played today. It mixed main man Britt Daniel's fluid guitar hooks and Jim Eno's precision drumming with a wider palette of sounds, such as vibes, violin, harpsichord and, most notably, piano.

As a result, it topped many critics' and fans' year-end lists, while severely increasing the anticipation for something more. Although their latest album, Kill the Moonlight, is not as immediately compelling as its predecessor, it slowly reveals itself to be their best and most fully realized work to date.

Part of the reason for this lack of immediacy is the way it was recorded, with instruments often panned wide in the mix, leaving immense amounts of open space in the songs. Initially a disorienting effect, it ultimately throws the focus back onto Daniel's voice, which has a raw lyrical swagger that recalls both Costello and Westerberg in their primes. And while Daniel's voice is often the focal point, its emotional resonance is bolstered by the use of piano chords, backward beats, the low moan of saxophones and perfectly executed handclaps and shaking tambourines.

All of this adds up to a stripped down, nearly skeletal sound that continues to resonate and reverberate with the listener long after the music has stopped. The album opens with "Small Stakes," which is a song that deals with risks, both sonically and lyrically. Daniel's lyrics castigate those content with the status quo and unwilling to "think big ... past one or two." It is almost as if he is defining the band and this album through the negative: they will not "sell [themselves] short" and this record will not be full of safe and predictable songs. The music supports this by using none of the trademark guitar fuzz of earlier Spoon efforts, instead relying on stuttering keys and a lone tambourine for nearly the whole song. Eno's booming drums kick in only during the last 30 seconds, as a sonic punctuation mark which seems to back up Daniel's mid-song taunt, "Tell me I'm wrong!"

From song one, the listener is given notice of their intentions. And the rest of the album is as big-sounding and challenging as the opening salvo. "The Way We Get By" has a boogie-woogie piano bounce and infectious chorus that could get even static indie-rock kids shuffling their feet, while the human beat box of "Stay Don't Go" suggests that The Flaming Lips finally have some competition in that department. Indeed, some people have even labeled this song danceable! "Something To Look Forward To" and "Jonathan Fisk" give us back the lean, Wire-like guitar of old, which demands to be turned all the way up.

Slower songs, such as "Paper Tiger" and "Don't Let It Get You Down," show off Daniel's higher range, while offering cautiously optimistic lyrics amidst a minimalist backing of drum sticks and odd keys or tinkling piano, respectively. It all takes some getting used to, but to ditch this album after the first listen would be about the gravest mistake a music fan could make this year. And while this may sound like the standard critical hyperbole, I dare you to listen and "Tell me I'm wrong!"

Barin McGrath