After helping with a kids MMA class in Welland this morning, I dropped by the gym to get a real sweat-on on the ergometer and then later with a short weights session. And fuelling this afternoon's workout session is this Kill the Moonlight album by Spoon.
Funnily enough, it was just over two years ago that I listened to the only other album by the band I know (click HERE), also while rowing in the gymnasium at the Vale Wellness Center in Port Colbourne, Ontario.
What were the chances, eh?
The world is a crazy place.
What else can I say?
Coming just a year-and-a-half after their triumphant return Girls Can Tell, Kill the Moonlight isn't so much a step backward as a step sideways, almost like a breather after the emotional and musical intensity of their previous album. It isn't surprising, really, that the group would choose to follow such a cathartic album as Girls Can Tell with a collection of tougher, leaner, and meaner songs like All the Pretty Girls Go to the City, which sounds like the inverse of Girls' Everything Hits at Once; The Way We Get By, a prime example of Spoon's smart, nervy rock; or the spare, spooky pop of Paper Tiger and Someone Something.
It is somewhat surprising, however, that Spoon managed to pare down their sound even more on Kill the Moonlight -- tracks such as Small Stakes and Something to Look Forward To are so stripped-down and sculpted that they're practically aerodynamic; the only problem is that they don't always take off from there. Still, even the album's sparest moments feature Spoon's much-heralded knack with catchy melodies and hooks, even if songs such as Don't Let It Get You Down would be even more memorable with a slightly more fleshed-out approach. Hints of this appear on the songs with unique production twists, such as Stay Don't Go, which sports a human beatbox rhythm; on the distant backing vocals and baritone saxes of You Gotta Feel It; and on the album-closer, Vittorio E., an undulating, vaguely psychedelic ballad that finally gives the band's playing and songwriting the full treatment they deserve. Though the album's brittle immediacy is far from a disappointment, and the quick turnaround between Kill the Moonlight and their previous one is a treat for Spoon fans, one can't help but notice that this album just isn't as revelatory as Girls Can Tell.
And now that this workout, as lack-lustre as it was, I can now retreat back to my couch with my book and Toby the Cat and laze around the rest of the day guilt-free.
WordPress.com
No comments:
Post a Comment