Spoon Girls Can Tell CD

Spoon: Britt Daniel (vocals, guitar); Josh Zarbo (bass); Jim Eno (drums).
Producers: Mike McCarthy, Britt Daniel, Jim Eno.
Personnel: Ames Asbell (viola); Lee Spencer (harpsichord); Conrad Keely (Mellotron).
Audio Mixers: Craig Ross; Mike McCarthy.
Recording information: Jim's House.
Time may not exactly heal all wounds, but it can lend the perspective and strength to channel pain into something positive. Such is the case with Spoon; their perennial indie rock underdog status and disastrous stint on Elektra have focused and tempered the trio's brash energy instead of crushing it. Their third full-length, Girls Can Tell, reflects the group's lean, hungry stance in its spare, spiky, immaculately crafted songs. "Take the Fifth" and "Take a Walk" take Spoon's smart, bouncy, slightly tough signature sound to another level; while the ghosts of the Pixies, Nirvana, and Elvis Costello still haunt songs like "Lines in the Suit," Girls Can Tell's sharp wordplay, barbed guitars, and appealingly raw vocals prove that the group embraces their influences without becoming slaves to them. Britt Daniel's increasingly eclectic and expansive songwriting comes to the forefront on "Everything Hits at Once," a taut, brooding pop song driven by vibes, keyboards, yearning, and pride; "Me and the Bean" suggests the direction alternative/indie rock should have taken after Nirvana's implosion. This album is also Spoon's most emotionally eclectic collection of songs, ranging from "Anything You Want," a sunny pop song drawn with just a few artfully placed strokes to "1020 AM," a brooding, slightly psychedelic piece of folk-rock that recalls Daniel's Drake Tungsten side project. "This Book Is a Movie," an appropriately tense, filmic instrumental, and "Chicago at Night," a slightly spooky pop song with winding guitars and an off-kilter melody, complete Girls Can Tell, making it Spoon's most mature, accomplished work to date and a fine balance of fire and polish. ~ Heather Phares
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.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..."