Spoon: Britt Daniel (vocals, guitar); Josh Zarbo (bass); Jim Eno (drums).
Producers: Mike McCarthy, Britt Daniel, Jim Eno.
GIRLS CAN TELL is the second release in two years from Texas-based Spoon, and they're on a roll. It follows the EP LOVE WAYS, and it's more mesmerizingly cerebral pop. Spoon are unafraid of pushing the envelope. The set opens with one of their best songs, "Everything Hits at Once." Its bleakly resonant lyrics dart in and out of the alluringly minor key musical structure. Elsewhere, keyboards embellish the arrangements with smart bits of filigree--"Me and the Bean" is full of wonderfully simple choices.
Throughout, the rhythmic core of guitar, bass, and drums lock together like a delirious machine. This is a band with a seven-year history, and a commitment to their vision that in the late '90s allowed them to survive being briefly signed by a major label (resulting in the superb but overlooked A SERIES OF SNEAKS), and then being dropped by the same.
What the critics say...
Entertainment Weekly (3/9/01, p.82) - "...GIRLS' melding of new wave and indie pop literally sounds timeless..." - Rating: B
Uncut (12/01, p.118) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...It's hip and urgent, formal and exhilarated, everything guitar pop aspires to today...'
Alternative Press (5/01, p.97) - 4 out of 5 - "...A savagely intelligent, keyboard indie-rock screed....shaking nerves and rattling brains..."
Magnet (4-5/01, p.91) - "...[They] continue to mine the same sparkling vein of crushed-velvet pop/punk Spoon has perfected as its stock in trade. Leader Britt Daniel is blessed with the sort of nicked-up rock'n'roll voice...conveying loss, yearning and anger simultaneously..."
