Spoon have been doing things right for a good long time. That they've never quite gotten the superstar-sorta level of attention that, say, The Strokes and Kings of Leon routinely received, is something to regret, because Britt Daniel and his crew know exactly how to construct a superb rock-and-roll tune. There are a dozen here on their brand new Greatest Hits release, plus one new number, and if anything can be said about Everything Hits At Once: The Best Of Spoon, out tomorrow on Matador Records, it's that the compilation is amazingly consistent and listenable.
"I Turn My Camera On" is here, of course, and it's set against the percolating "Do You" for a one-two opening punch that's nearly perfect, while the slinky "The Way We Get By" from 2002's Kill The Moonlight, finds the Spoon formula dependent on the sort of piano-hook that the Stones would have once sold their souls for. Elsewhere, "The Underdog", from 2007, still charms, while the earlier "I Summon You", from 2005's Gimme Fiction, is an equally appealing sort of strum-fest. At their best, Spoon managed to bounce between material like these two singalongs and compositions that were rougher and more angular, like "Got Nuffin", from 2010's Transference. "Everything at Once", the oldest track here and the one which gave this compilation its title, remains a supple jewel of American indie-pop, a holdover from an era when bands like this one actually had a chance to crossover into the realms of mainstream appeal a tiny bit. And they did, of course. That number, from 2001's Girls Can Tell, segues into the lone new track here, 2019's "No Bullets Spent", a sleek machine that neatly blends bits of the band's earlier, catchy hits with enough of Britt Daniel's white boy soul yelps to please a fan of any era of this group's long and rewarding career. There are omissions here, of course, but as a concise, tight career-overview of these Austin rockers, Everything Hits at Once: The Best of Spoon works spectacularly.
Everything Hits at Once: The Best of Spoon drops on Matador Records tomorrow.
More details on Spoon via the band's official website, or their official Facebook page.
[Photo: Matador Records]