Kill The Moonlight

Spoon: Britt Daniel (vocals, guitar); Mike McCarthy (12-String guitar); Matt Brown (saxophone); Eggo Johanson (piano, keyboards, tambourine); Joshua Zarbo, John Clayton (bass); Jim Eno (drums); Brad Shenfield (dabouke). Producers: Britt Daniel, Jim Eno, Mike McCarthy. Building on the momentum of 2001's critically acclaimed GIRLS CAN TELL, Spoon unveiled KILL THE MOONLIGHT the following year. The Austin, Texas-based band's second outing for Merge Records finds frontman Britt Daniel and company settling comfortably into a mutually advantageous relationship with the revered indie label, resulting in a confident and creative album. The group reins in its blatant Pavement-isms, opting for a more stripped-down approach that relies on straightforward beats, minimal keyboard lines and guitar riffs, and smart melodies. Daniel hits a detached falsetto on the heavily looped, Krautrock-like "Stay Don't Go" (foreshadowing GIMME FICTION's "I Turn My Camera On"), while "Jonathan Fisk" is a garagey, no-frills rock tune that wouldn't have been out of place on the Strokes' debut. Keeping things spare, yet surprisingly eclectic, is what elevates KILL THE MOONLIGHT above similarly conceived underground albums, and, not surprisingly, this quality helped to make it one of 2002's most lauded indie-rock releases.