Spoon - Girls Can Tell

Release Date: 20.02.2001

★★★★★ Tracks:

Everything Hits at Once
Lines in the Suit
Anything You Want

Spoon is more of a singles group than a group I play entire albums from. The three records that host the majority of those singles were released all in a row, starting with 2001's solid Girls Can Tell. The best track is its opener, "Everything Hits at Once" is a chilled-out piece of pop that conjures Rubber Soul and Revolver era Beatles. Britt Daniels and Co. are unabashed 60's fanboys, the bare-bones instrumentation of drums/bass/guitar, the occasional electro-keys, and Britt's infectious voice the results of mimicking those Zombies, Stones and Beatles records they're so influenced by. Although they more often lean towards the poppier era of the 60's, they do have the occasional rockers like the Zeppelin-influenced "The Fitted Shirt" and the more modern indie-sounding "Take a Walk". But their at their best when digging up those flowery, psychedelic sounds and reimagining them, as "Anything You Want" and "Lines in the Suit" can attest to.

Surfer Blood - Astro Coast

Release Date: 19.1.2010

★★★★★ Tracks:
Harmonix

Surf rock made a big comeback a few years ago, weaving its way into the indie arena, with California up-and-comers (Girls, Best Coast, Wavves) wanting to incorporate the sounds of the most renowned of California groups. Surfer Blood hails from the East Coast in Florida, where there’s more humid rain than ocean breeze and the waves aren’t all that great, but they wanted in on the beach party too. Astro Coast didn’t take much time to warm up to initially. “Floating Vibes” and “Swim” are the catchiest of tunes, mixing early 2000s indie rock (The Shins, The Strokes) with their surf influences. “Harmonix” is a personal favorite, its name coming from the harmonic sound one can make by just barely placing a finger on a string above a fret, and it’s those harmonic notes the song is built off of.

The bad news is I completely forgot about this record weeks after hearing it. It doesnt have much staying power, and I've now grown bored by a lot of the songs I liked initially. I’ll keep a couple of the stand-outs and most likely scrap the rest. But unfortunately for my home state, looks like California wins again.

White Rabbits - It's Frightening

Release Date: May 19, 2009

Following in the theme of my blogmate’s last post, I have no idea how or why I have White Rabbit’s It’s Frightening. I think maybe a friend sent it to me or told me to download it? Anyways, I haven’t paid it any attention for who knows how the hell long it’s been on my iPod until this past week. As I've gotten familiar with it, I am reminded of Kill the Moonlight-era Spoon. And after searching for more information online it came as no surprise that Spoon’s very own Britt Daniel is the chief producer, and Spoon's producer since Girls Can Tell, Mike McCarthy, is its sound engineer.

The first track and the single from the album is “Percussion Gun,” and it sounds like a relative to one of Spoon’s biggest singles, “That’s the Way We Get By.” The song, as is most of the record, is driven by piano and percussion, not always derived by the kit, and some very Daniel-esque vocals. It's alright. The majority of the following nine songs rely on a foundation built by White Rabbit’s signature piano-sound. It’s endearing that a modern-day indie rock outfit is using an actual piano as opposed to a synthesizer, and these guys definitely write some musically airtight tracks. I hear the catchiness in a few of them: most notably “Rudie Falls” and the haunting “Midnight & I.” But other than these few highlights, I can’t shake the feeling that I already have this record, and it’s not the type of thing I need multiple versions of.

I like Spoon, but perhaps Britt Daniel shouldn’t have directed White Rabbits to craft a record that sounds so much like one he and his band have already created themselves. It’s Frightening might have been a little more original, and therefore a little better in turn.