The three-year stretch between
Gimme Fiction
and
Kill the Moonlight
was the longest gap between
Spoon
's albums since the end of their disastrous relationship with
Elektra Records
helped put two and a half years between
A Series of Sneaks
Girls Can Tell
. In its own way,
feels like as much of a refinement on what came before it as
did at the time: theatrical and seething with late-night menace, the album sounds bigger than
's previous work, with keyboards, guitars, and string parts courtesy of
the Tosca Strings
. But even within this scope, the band's eye for detail remains. Everything about
, from its artwork -- which looks like photographer
Irving Penn
doing a surreal fashion spread on Little Red Riding Hood for Vogue Magazine -- to the sound effects that embellish each song, is meticulous. Fortunately, "meticulous" doesn't mean "precious." The album's first three tracks show that
can make music that's intricate and rousing at the same time: "The Beast and Dragon, Adored" is a slow-building preface, mentioning later song titles and introducing
's big, brooding sound. "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine," a string-driven tale of a mysterious gentleman/cad, boasts some of
Britt Daniel
's cleverest storytelling, while "I Turn My Camera On" turns voyeurism and emotional distance into an irresistible groove that sounds like a tense rewrite of
the Stones
' "Emotional Rescue" (later on, the intro of "They Never Got You" sounds strangely like
Hall & Oates
' "Maneater" -- it's nice to hear them include '70s and '80s references that aren't the post-punk and new wave influences borrowed by so many other indie bands, or even the
Elvis Costello
nods that shaped so much of their earlier work). The opening trio of songs is so strong that it tends to overpower the album at first, but other standouts eventually surface: "My Mathematical Mind" is one long verse, broken by instrumental interludes, that keeps building tension with riveting results. On the other hand, the relatively lighthearted "Sister Jack" and pretty but jittery acoustic ballad "I Summon You" emphasize just how moody and nocturnal the rest of the album is. Indeed, restrained tracks like "The Delicate Place," "The Infinite Pet," and "Merchants of Soul" seem to be more about supporting
's mood than standing out as great songs. "Meticulous," "distant," and "restrained" aren't the most likely adjectives to describe a good rock album, but they fit
perfectly. With this album,
continue to build one of the most consistent and distinctive bodies of work in indie rock -- even as they change and take chances from album to album, they end up sounding exactly how they should each time. ~ Heather Phares