Review By J1 Reporter Lilly Italia 

Among a 30-year, ten album catalogue, Spoon’s ”Gimme Fiction” finds itself smacked directly in the middle. And being released 20 years ago now, on May 10. 2005, it lingers as the greatest showcase for what makes Spoon, well, Spoon.

The LP unfolds with the first track “The Beast and Dragon, Adored,” and immediately, 15 seconds deep into the song, there is something so effortlessly smooth about its sound.

I’ve always had an obsession with this track as an opener. It serves as not only a musical sample of the rest of this work, but as a lyrical example as well: featuring lines such as, “I summon my love back to me,” and “That’s when I knew, knew they never got you.”

Musically, It embarks upon previously toyed-with ideas in their prior albums, and hidden within brooding piano and unpredictable guitar hooks, it sets a tone for not only the remainder of “Gimme Fiction”, but what their music would evolve into especially on 2007’s “GaGaGaGaGa” or 2015’s “They Want my Soul.”

The second song, “The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine” follows Britt Daniel’s, Spoon’s frontman’s, exploration of duality in his storytelling. Of course, these words are supplemented by the band’s resonant instrumental, including smooth-sounding cello portions. This fades into the catchiness of “I Turn My Camera On.”

”I Turn My Camera On” has an undeniable groove— even listening now, after however many hundreds of times, I can’t help but move my head to its rhythm. Singing in falsetto, Daniel‘s vocals accompany a steady, repetitive – but never annoying – guitar riff; it just makes the song feel like a hit. 

It’s downright infectious. 

This idea of repetition cycles again in “My Mathematical Mind,” and shares the same unpredictability as “The Beast and Dragon, Adored.” This tune features, probably, the greatest amount of controlled-chaos one would find on this LP. 

Beneath politically-driven lyrics, a continuous piano part and front-and-center sporadic guitar hooks build to this song’s climax.

I, still, am greeted with chills listening to each part build.

“The Delicate Place”  finds itself sandwiched between “My Mathematical Mind” and “Sister Jack.” It contains the same guitar-freak-out ideas of prior songs, while building on poppier rhythms, a preview of the upcoming tracks.

“Sister Jack” concludes the A-side of this record in an orthodox pop-rock fashion— nothing too out there in design, yet, catchy and an easy-listen. 

This, in a quieter experience, is transposed into the B-side’s opener “I Summon You,” which offers Spoon’s greatest example of a straightforward love song. Being really the only acoustic song on this album, it stands out as not only one of the greatest of this record, but one of the greatest Spoon songs in general. 

After this, the songs begin to die down in popularity. However, “The Infinite Pet,” which is wrongfully Daniel’s least favorite Spoon track, “Was it You?,” “They Never Got You” and “Merchants of Soul” each serve as hidden gems in their catalog. 

With an album length of 43 minutes, “Gimme Fiction” has no time to falter in quality. It’s one of those albums that transports you into a state of just feeling simply and purely cool. 

So, give it a listen. Let yourself be submerged in Spoon’s sound that, 20 years later, still holds up.