Music: Minimalism and Melody

Spoon strips rock 'n' roll down to the basics on its new album and proves that less is much, much more

There's a perfect song on Gimme Fiction, the new album from the chronically underrated Austin, Texas, rock band Spoon. It's called I Summon You, and its narcotic powers are such that only after you have pressed the repeat button for the sixth or seventh time will it occur to you that there's not a single original thing about it. I Summon You involves a guy, a girl and a long drive. It's played at a wistful but assured mid-tempo on guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. The chorus goes, "Aww no, where are you tonight?" If your record collection takes up more than...

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