Kill the Moonlight

Spoon

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 20, 2002)
• Original Release Date: August 20, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Merge Records
• ASIN: B000069DOH
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,171 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Life has gotten so much easier for these guys ever since Pavement broke up. After all, how many flannel-shirt wearing, floppy-haired, Fall sound-alikes can the average person swallow? Oh well, now that the playing field is theirs alone, Spoon do not disappoint. Kill The Moonlight is their most melodically accomplished work to date, shimmying through the primal tambourine shakes of "Small Stakes," breaking a sweat with the spiky lo-fi swagger of "Stay Don't Go," and getting all starry-eyed on the three-and-a-half minute acoustic epic "Don't Let It Get You Down." So good, you'll even forgive them for blatantly Malkmus-derived song titles like "Paper Tiger" and "Vittorio E." --Aidin Vaziri

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Album of 2002, January 20, 2003

By	Heavy Theta (Lorton, Va United States) - See all my reviews

Kill the Moonlight certainly got on a lot of end of the year top ten lists. Admittedly, these are kind of lean times for the music community, so maybe it doesn't take all that much to stand out these days. But Spoon displays genuine enthusiasm performing melodic, adult rock and roll, supported by an active, but not too heavy handed mixing/effects board. I'm sure there are many afficianados long aware of the band, but they seemed to just come out of left field with this kickass record. Which is how pop is supposed to work.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A minimal masterpiece, May 11, 2003

By	Tyler McGaughey (san angelo, Texas) - See all my reviews

I first heard of the band of Austin, Texas indie rockers called Spoon when they performed on the famed PBS show "Austin City Limits" with Ben Kweller. When "Kill the Moonlight" was listed as one of Rolling Stone magazine's Top 50 Records of the Year, I decided to pick it up.

At first I thought that the singer, Britt Daniel, was doing his best Elvis Costello impression. But strangely, each time I listen to this CD, the resemblance to that new-wave troubadour grows smaller and smaller.

Another thing that struck me at first was how much SPACE there was on this album. The opening track, the superbly catchy "Small Stakes", only has organ and tambourine to accompany the vocals. But any [person] can make space, right? Ah, yes, that is true. It's how you USE THAT SPACE that makes great music. And Spoon does just that. On most songs there is just a sparse piano melody line, with drums and bass, to underscore Britt daniel's pleading and similarly simplistic lyrics.

I have made the comparison to Elvis Costello, and indeed, this band conjure up the spirits of punk/new-wave greats on a few songs. "Jonathon Fisk" reminds me of The Clash and "The Way We Get By" sounds like a New York Dolls demo. But these blokes are not just copying what others did in '77. Just listen to the fabulous "Paper Tiger" and tell me if Sid Vicious could ever be that compassionate or musically mature.

Although the album is barely 35 minutes long, it never seems like it is a short throwaway because the songs are of such high quality. From the human beatbox-based "Stay Don't Go" to the organic and slightly pschyadelic closer "Vittorio E.", "Kill the Moonlight" is one of the best and finest albums to have been released in 2002.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kill the moonlight, May 23, 2003

By	Sacco (here there and everywhere) - See all my reviews

Spoon are without a doubt a great band. While their influences are obvious they're no where as derivative as the majority of the 'neo garage' bands that have cropped up in recent years. In my humble opinion Kill The Moonlight is Spoon's best album and one of the best of this decade so far. For starters its the most cohesive album by Spoon so far, the track listing flows perfectly. But also it contains the best set of Spoon songs thus far produced.

The sound is minimalistic, the beat boxy and keyboard opener Small Stakes sets the tone for that perfectly. The Way We Get By is a slacker slice of life, though suitably for Spoon not a full blown anthem. The rest of the album is a mix of sexual and modern life near angst though never falling into that dangerous self indulgent depression that often drags a band down.

The greastest merit of Spoon is their cohesive sound. While the vocals are not great, and the band are competent but not exceptional muscicians they sound great on every song. Spoon are tight band whith an almost old style rhythm and blues feel. Not experimental sure, but that really doesn't matter when they sound this good.