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Spoon's 'Moonlight' is an indie lover's dream
By Andrew Bryant
Old Gold and Black Reviewer

In lieu of this week’s album review is the following note, found in a corner of Tribble Hall’s B Wing:

Dear Super-Hot Girl,

Hi. My name is ____. We are in the same first-year seminar. I am the guy who dresses only in black, wears a shoulder bag with cool indie rock buttons on it and always smells like cloves. We spoke at the Sig __ party for the first time last week. I was the one you spilled your beverage on during the fifth consecutive playing of Beastie Boys’ "Professor Booty."

I only went to the party because I knew you were going to be there. Most of the time I prefer to spend my Friday nights drinking orange Hi-C and listening to Can’s Future Days and Tago Mago.

You are likely wondering why I gave you this note attached to a CD-R, correct? I gave them to you because I think you are cuter than Liz Phair, Mary Timony and Jenny Toomey combined, and I want to go out on a date with you. I know people here don’t date, though, so to attract your attention I burned you a copy of my favorite disc for the week, Spoon’s Kill The Moonlight.

It’s not as good as their debut, Series of Sneaks, but it is definitely a return to form from their over-produced previous album, Girls Can Tell.

The first track, "Small Stakes," is incredibly stripped down as compared to the band’s past efforts, with only an organ and a tambourine garnering attention. Don’t worry, it’s still catchy enough that you will hopefully sing it at your next paint-pen party.

Moreover, Britt Daniels is one of the best pop songwriters of the past 10 years, as evidenced by the brilliant simplicity of "The Way We Get By." The first time I heard him sing the words "we put faith in our concerns/ fall in love to down on the street/ we believe in the sum of ourselves" over that simple Harry Nilsson-esque piano progression I wanted nothing more than to grab hands with the prettiest girl I know and run around an abandoned city block looking for trouble.

I don’t want you to think I am a Requiem for a Dream, so there are also plenty of songs about love on the album. "Stay Don’t Go" caused me to go into respiratory shock the first time I listened to it. I was trying to keep time with the a cappella "mmm-ah-mm-ah" rhythm, until I realized that it is only a sampled loop for the sake of the album. Then I felt sort of silly.

I didn’t feel embarrassed enough to ignore the succinct lyrics, "sometimes telling the truth is the best way out/ and it’s the wrong words that make you prick up your ears." This is yet another example of how I never truly understand an idea completely until rock n’ roll teaches me how to interpret it.

There is not a single song on the album that I would advise you to skip, but there are definitely certain songs I would prefer to grab your attention. If I were in the band and wanted to impress a super-hot girl in the front row of my concert, I would play the languid "Paper Tiger," the uplifting "Don’t Let It Get You Down" and "All The Pretty Girls Go To The City." During the playing of the last song, I would wink at you from onstage, so everyone in the club would know I was playing it for you.

If you want to get together, I am normally sitting outside the bookstore, looking hip. Enjoy the album.