Spoon: A Series Of Sneaks : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

With its jagged guitar lines, taut grooves and oblique lyrics, Spoon's second album, A Series of Sneaks was probably never going to sell a million copies. Still, their label, Elektra, never waited around to find out, dumping the band four months after releasing their frazzled 1998 gem. Now reissued by Merge with two additional tracks, Sneaks hasn't lost any bite. "June's Foreign Spell" is nothing less than savage -- a furious stomp of harrowing riffs and Cro-Magnon beats, punctuated by frontman Britt Daniel violently proclaiming, "I feel like a rat." But on "Reservations" and "Metal Detektor," the trio deftly balances its bile and aggression with poise and craft. The reissue closes appropriately, with a two-song harangue directed at Spoon's former Elektra A&R man, Ron Laffitte. Ironically, "Laffitte Don't Fail Me Now" and "The Agony of Laffitte," which were originally released as a single, might be the most melodic things here. Somehow that only seems to enhance their vindictive kick and make Spoon's last laugh resonate a little louder.