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Spoon, "Kill the Moonlight"
Austin, TX, is a city with a grand music tradition, but lately it's shaping up to be the new Glasgow, with more brilliant indie bands appearing out of there than most cities ever see. One of the mainstays who are enjoying a bit of a creative revival are Spoon. Formed by Britt Daniel and Jim Eno, they garnered a great deal of local attention before releasing their debut on Matador. Then they moved to Elektra, releasing only one album before they were dropped. Hitting the indie circuit again, Spoon found a home at Merge, where they've released the acclaimed Girls Can Tell and their latest work Kill the Moonlight. Where Girls showed off a meaner, leaner Spoon than in the past, Moonlight shows them losing a few more pounds just to have a bit more of a good time.
The songs feature very minimal arrangements—often just guitar/drums, piano/drums/bass, or guitar/beatbox—all with the voice of Daniel pushing them right along. The mood is more light-hearted while the music may be a bit more adventurous. "The Way We Get By" is a perfect summer fun song, where "Stay Don't Go" features a bizarre vocal sample and a falsetto Daniel telling a tale of truth. Then there's the fight song in "Johnathon Fisk," the lust song in "All the Pretty Girls Go To the City," and the self-confidence song in "Don't Let it Get You Down." The CD runs the gamut of emotions and situations over its brief forty minutes, yet it is a joyous ride while it lasts. The band feels more confident or assured, and though it may be a bit of a let-down not to hear the power or feral energy of before, the band deserved a bit of fun, and that's all there is to this fine release. 
