Spoon - Girls Can Tell - Merge

Review by: Jennifer Perkins

For whatever reason Girls Can Tell is not how I remembered Spoon. Once upon a time I heard them and remembered them being much more loud and rocking. Maybe I dreamt it. Girls Can Tell is stripped down and rather sparse in instrumentation, this is not to be confused with basic or primitive. All the songs though not overflowing with complex layers of sound are still interesting and engaging. Not what I was expecting, but definitely a pleasant surprise.

I got this record to "see what all the damn hype was about". Here in Austin Spoon are almost like demi-Gods and since I was not very familiar with them, I decided I needed to investigate. I am quiet glad that I did. I am not going to run out and get their whole discography, but I sure am enjoying what I have heard so far and even took that big step and went out and saw them play.

They didn't play my favorite song that night, "Everything Hits at Once" so I was a little disappointed. This song is really catchy, but don't let that deceive you the content is actually rather down trodden. There is a keyboard or something like that in the mix, making it one of the more robust tracks on the record. The liner notes say vibes and mellotron. I might add played by local celebrity and label mate on Merge, Conrad of Trail of the Dead. This is the song I play on repeat.

Besides the song "1020 AM" which reminds me of those weirdoes that go to renaissance festivals and like it, the whole record is a winner. Another favorite song is "Me and the Bean" with ba-ba-ba's. They played this one at the show, but I found out it was a cover song. "Anything You Want" is another great song. The overall feel of this record for whatever reason reminds me of Squeeze. On "Lines in the Suit" I keep expecting to hear "Tempted by the Fruit of Another" come out of Mr. Daniel's mouth.

Spoon are a great band that have really survived a lot (just look at their label lineage). Now that I have heard Girls Can Tell. I realize why there is all the hype surrounding this band and now I see that they deserve every last bit of it.

Read an interview with Spoon here.

Read where Spoon got their name from here.