Spoon are a band bent on survival. After being dropped from Elektra due to a supposed lack of marketability, Spoon returned with airtight pop gems and titled their EP, The Agony of Lafitte, after the fickle A & R that passed them on. Kill the MoonLight is the apex of the band’s quest for readymade hits, sure to make major labels think twice about their loss. Every track among the album’s 12, l includes an appealing rhythm, and a catchy chorus, making any one an easy fit for radio rotation.
Compared to the emotional mess and vulnerability of Girls Can Tell, Kill the Moonlight is cleaner and less raw than its predecessor. While Girls Can Tell was the climax of a messy breakup, Kill the Moonlight is the spurned lover’s proof that they can get back on their feet just fine.
Sparseness is really what pulls off Kill the Moonlight. Each song is laid out in its bare bones; never opting for the over packed, over produced multi layers so commonly seen in rock radio, a method that makes you wonder just what’s being hidden.
The band’s catchiest track, “The Way We Get By” seems to speak of the band’s resolve to survive. “We Get High in the backseats of cars/We break into mobile homes/We got to sleep to shake appeal/Never Wake up on our own,” followed by the deliciously catchy refrain “That’s the way we get by.” Accompanying Britt Daniel’s satisfyingly gruff vocals is well tempoed piano, stomping along throughout the little addictive ditty.
Packed into the band’s lyrics is a wry, self aware brand of hipness, which sometimes hits and sometimes makes you think the band was more at home on Saddlecreek.
On “Small Stakes” the band does their own name-dropping, “Small time danger in your midsize car/I don’t like the Stripes but I’ll go for Har Mar.” “Something to Look Forward To” makes you envision the band as overly sarcastic English majors. “Your mistakes/ Your merciless eye/Your Chicago Manual of Style.”
Also among the album’s most notable is “All the Pretty Girls Go the City”, which carries a haunting Motown flavor, pared nicely with a Lou Reeds sounding Daniels. Once again, true to their mission the song is despicably addictive.
Rival bands and record labels take note: Spoon are a force that cannot be stifled. |