With Series of Sneaks, Girls Can Tell, Kill The Moonlight, and now Gimme Fiction, Spoon have completely cemented their status (in my mind) as the best "indie rock" band of our time.

I'll admit, at first, Gimme Fiction didn't blow me away. I thought it was great, and didn't have a single bad track, but it also didn't have as many singles like Kill The Moonlight did. I felt like that album had several "jump out at you" songs, most notably "Paper Tiger", "The Way We Get By", "Stay Don't Go", and "All The Pretty Girls Go to the City". After one listen, Gimme Fiction didn't seem to have that one perfect song (like Paper Tiger was for me) or that one perfect single (like the way we get by was).

However, after several repeat listens, I really was blown away by this album. I became so completely absorbed in it. I realized that this is by far Spoon's most consistent album, and it is also their most cohesive. Every track moves perfectly into the next. They feel more like movements in an epic musical - and Spoon's playing (especially all that piano) really adds to this effect.

This album is less "experimental" (I really hate that term) than Kill the Moonlight, but feels more finished. This isn't just a collection of great songs, it is a great album - meant to be heard as such. I think that from a purely commercial point of view, this would be less successful as Kill the Moonlight, which had some truly stunning indie-yet-ready-for-the-mainstream songs. Then again, the first 4 songs on Gimme Fiction are as good as any Spoon have ever created. (I only started feeling this way after my third listening.)

Gimme Fiction is a sign of a band that has truly matured. Spoon seem more comfortable with their own sound then they ever have before. They are starting to make it look too easy. I'm looking forward to their next album, where hopefully they can show evolution and innovation beyond their current level. Even if they don't, I could forgive them. They've set the bar incredibly high.