Artist: Spoon
Album: Gimme Fiction
Label: Merge Records
Rating:
Reviewer: Sarah Moskowitz

If you haven’t heard of them yet, there’s a great little band by the name of Spoon that came out of Austin, Texas in the mid-90s and brought a different sort of sound with them. Throughout their last five records they’ve managed to achieve a style that separates them from other bands, generally speaking. When you listen to a Spoon song, there’s no mistaking them for another band. Spoon has always maintained their sound, and in their new release Gimme Fiction, yes, Spoon still sounds like Spoon.

What’s found on Gimme Fiction, is Spoon, typically, as they’ve always been found to be. You’ve still got Britt Daniel with his dry vocals, the twangy guitars, the occasional background piano that binds the song. Everything fits together as it always has. The songs are catchy, not aggressive nor passive, just a band that’s fun to play. As usual, it’s enjoyable to listen to, but (to the veteran Spoon fan’s ears) it’s just not all that impressionable this time around.

Unlike songs from previous Spoon albums, nothing really jumps out on Gimme Fiction. Songs flow from one to the next, but that’s not always how the band has done it. In 2002’s Kill the Moonlight, each song held its own weight. Specifically, tracks like “Stay Don’t Go,” backed by Daniel’s awesome beat-boxing talents and the radio-friendly “The Way We Get By” had a solid impact. But Gimme Fiction is a straight run-through, without any major fluctuations in mood. All the tracks are moderately made, sung, processed and produced, and they’re alright in that sense, but it seems like there’s no one in particular that’s a refreshing blast from its predecessor.

The highlight of the album is easily the opening track, “The Beast And Dragon, Adored.” Punchy and groovy in the way that only Spoon could twine together, this is what the band is known for. It’s in this song that the band carries through what was captivating about them in earlier works, but the attraction quickly fades when the sound downshifts to a tamer gear, and remains within that range for the duration of this album.

Another notable song is “Was It You?” Its standing out may be attributed to the contributions of John Vanderslice, the odd former frontman to the band MK Ultra. Vanderslice, now operating as a solo artist, covers such a large spectrum in his work that he really has no set style. What he’s created with Spoon is a song that’s seductive and sleek in contrast against the rest of the album, and makes a statement in a quiet way.

When a band creates a signature sound, it’s a good thing. You’re able to differentiate them from other bands in the same genre without considering them a spin-off of a more successful band. However, when a band creates a sound that works for them, even though it may be a profitable one that keeps their following close, it’s not always the best choice to never try anything new. What happens is that a band who, although they may carry a distinguishable sound, becomes monotonous, and that is a bad thing.

All in all, Gimme Fiction is a decent record. However, it leaves room for improvement, based on the talents Spoon has proved to have in the past. Wherever Spoon may have found inspiration for their earlier material, they seemed to have missed their mark this time around. Ultimately Gimme Fiction lacks creativity against Spoon’s previous records, making this album drab in comparison to the rest.