It’s hard to believe Spoon have been around long enough to warrant releasing a ‘best of’ collection, but here we are. It’s 2019 and Spoon have just released a 13-track collection of tracks that cover from 2001s Girls Can Tell clear up to 2017s Hot Thoughts. Everything Hits at Once: The Best of Spoon is a selection of tracks curated by the band, so if your favorite Spoon song isn’t on here you can blame Britt Daniel. And if you’re hoping for something from their classic 1998 debut A Series of Sneaks or Telephono, sorry Charlie. This is a Matador Records collection, not Merge. What we have here is a ‘best of’ collection that covers the rebirth of Spoon post-Elektra Records fiasco and Ron Laffitte. I think they could’ve gone with a 20-track collection and made it a double album, but Britt didn’t ask me. For the newcomers to the musical world of Spoon, this is a great introduction.
When asked about this collection recently, singer/guitarist Britt Daniel talked about how when he first got into the Cure as a teen it was because of their singles collection Standing on a Beach. That collection inspired him to dig into Robert Smith’s discography and find inspiration thru deep album cuts(and possibly wear eyeliner and paint his fingernails black.) Either way, that collection of songs was the catalyst for further music exploration for young Britt Daniel. Everything Hits at Once: The Best of Spoon could be the catalyst for a kid today to dig into Spoon’s discography and discover great deep cuts like “Eddie’s Ragga”, “The Fitted Shirt”, “My Little Japanese Cigarette Case”, or “Jonathan Fisk”.
As it stands, while this may not be my list of the best Spoon songs it’s a doable one. Of course you’ve gotta have “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb”, “The Way We Get By”, “Don’t You Evah”, and “I Turn My Camera On”. It’s great to see the amazing “I Summon You” off of Gimme Fiction, as I’ve always seen that as one of Britt’s best songs lyrically and musically. “Got Nuffin”? Great. Of course the album’s namesake “Everything Hits At Once” was the first song I ever heard from Spoon back in 2004 when they opened with it on Austin City Limits.
For me, some glaring omissions would be “Sister Jack”, “My Mathematical Mind”, the aforementioned “Jonathan Fisk”, “I Ain’t The One”, “Who Makes Your Money?”, “Black Like Me”, “Don’t Let It Get You Down”, and “Lines In The Suit”. With the exception of one song, their 2010 album Transference is sadly lacking here. They could’ve at least left off the one new track, the just okay “No Bullets Spent” and replaced it with one of the above. But hey, not my call.
Still, for the person wanting a sample of what makes Spoon one of the great American rock bands of the last 20 years this record will suffice. Lots of ear candy here, and hopefully a portal into the individual albums for those uninitiated.
7.8 out of 10
Complex Distractions 