hey, it's my photos!
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 25 February 2021 05:13 (three years ago) link
Yeah, "Anything You Want" is the one that hit me when I revisited the album a couple of years after it came out. I love that super-casual delivery that threatens to lurch off the beat and the line, "I'll be in the back room drinking my half of the beer" brings me back to college years when you would scrape together cash just to split a sixer with a friend. And the specificity of the last verse is perfect.
― Rocky Thee Stallion (PBKR), Thursday, 25 February 2021 13:14 (three years ago) link
only just recently learned that eleanor friedberger is the subject of that song
― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Thursday, 25 February 2021 13:26 (three years ago) link
Britt on Girls Can Tell in this Pitchfork feature from 2014
I remember seeing an old picture of my dad going to work in a dress shirt and tie—it was a look that I didn't see too much anymore. For “The Fitted Shirt”, I must have asked someone to bring in a harpsichord because of how into the Kinks I was in that moment. I found this website right when online sales of music were starting—maybe it was called CD Universe—but there was a flaw in their system, so as long as I entered a different address every time, I could order a free CD. So I ordered, at various addresses, the entire Kinks catalog. If it wasn't for that website, Girls Can Tell might have had a different attitude and sound.
On "Anything You Want"/Friedberger (I did not know this!)
Pitchfork: I find that one line in "Anything You Want"—“You know you’re the one, and that hasn’t changed since you were 19 and still in school, waiting on a light on the corner by Sound Exchange”—so moving. Did it actually happen?BD: Yeah, it was a song about Eleanor (Friedberger). It was a big-picture song, and at the end it zooms way into this specific moment. I could definitely see her standing on that corner.Pitchfork: Part of the power of that line comes from the way the syllables get crammed in there at the end. It's like you have to rush the words out.BD: And that's what's great about it, right? It originally wasn't like that. It was just regular syllables at the end, and the lyric was, "This is a song called fuck or fight, it's the same thing every night," but Jim suggested it didn't fit the mood. So I came up with that other idea, and (then-bassist) Josh (Zarbo) told me it ruined the song. But I thought it really made everything personal and unexpected. When we recorded, (co-producer) Mike (McCarthy) had me fade off the mic at the end of the line. It's totally personal and real. It rings true.
BD: Yeah, it was a song about Eleanor (Friedberger). It was a big-picture song, and at the end it zooms way into this specific moment. I could definitely see her standing on that corner.
Pitchfork: Part of the power of that line comes from the way the syllables get crammed in there at the end. It's like you have to rush the words out.
BD: And that's what's great about it, right? It originally wasn't like that. It was just regular syllables at the end, and the lyric was, "This is a song called fuck or fight, it's the same thing every night," but Jim suggested it didn't fit the mood. So I came up with that other idea, and (then-bassist) Josh (Zarbo) told me it ruined the song. But I thought it really made everything personal and unexpected. When we recorded, (co-producer) Mike (McCarthy) had me fade off the mic at the end of the line. It's totally personal and real. It rings true.
― willem, Thursday, 25 February 2021 13:55 (three years ago) link
of all britts lifts from the kinks over the years "fitted shirt" has my fave. in the 2000s this would have been "anything you want" for me, today its a tough call btw that and "everything hits at once".
when i illegally downloaded this back in the day, i dont think it was a leak or anything but for some strange reason "lines in the suit" was an acoustic demo version? it had a really cool sound & i loved how they dropped this lo fi track in the middle of an otherwise clean-sounding album. then when i got the LP the album version was a shock and i never warmed to it. not the last time i got overly attached to a spoon demo vs the album version.
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Thursday, 25 February 2021 14:34 (three years ago) link
'Anything For You Want' for me. Just a perfect little earworm.
― cajunsunday, Thursday, 25 February 2021 14:35 (three years ago) link
has anyone ever sussed out what record is spinning on the cover?
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Thursday, 25 February 2021 14:36 (three years ago) link
A Series of Sneaks.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 February 2021 14:49 (three years ago) link
voted believing is art
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 25 February 2021 14:51 (three years ago) link
"lines in the suit" was an acoustic demo version?
― willem, Thursday, 25 February 2021 15:00 (three years ago) link
Opener is a top 5 Spoon mainstay for me regardless of mood, so that one.
― pomenitul, Thursday, 25 February 2021 15:02 (three years ago) link
It was just regular syllables at the end, and the lyric was, "This is a song called fuck or fight, it's the same thing every night," but Jim suggested it didn't fit the mood. So I came up with that other idea, and (then-bassist) Josh (Zarbo) told me it ruined the song. But I thought it really made everything personal and unexpected. When we recorded, (co-producer) Mike (McCarthy) had me fade off the mic at the end of the line. It's totally personal and real. It rings true.
Wow, talk about dodging a bullet. (Then-bassist Josh Zarbo - yr a knucklehead)
― stuck in the version layer (morrisp), Thursday, 25 February 2021 17:19 (three years ago) link
Btw, Matador put up some old home demo recording (and is selling the album for 25% off).
― stuck in the version layer (morrisp), Thursday, 25 February 2021 17:20 (three years ago) link
"Everything Hits at Once" and the video is great too.
― the future is now, Friday, 26 February 2021 22:00 (three years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Friday, 5 March 2021 00:01 (three years ago) link
it's crazy that this album is so consistently good and is so packed with smashes, and yet i knew what my vote would be without even thinking about it.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Friday, 5 March 2021 00:10 (three years ago) link
It’s tough to beat Everything Hits at Once. It’s so... I don’t know, multidimensional. It gives me so many feelings, and almost sensory overload. When it’s over I feel more like I’ve watched a really engrossing movie than listened to a song. The musical layers and the lyrical delivery are just so measured and careful and perfect. As good as this album is, I’m always disappointed that the rest of it isn’t as good as this song.
― epistantophus, Friday, 5 March 2021 00:59 (three years ago) link
Anything you want
― i was too much listening to your accent (Spottie), Friday, 5 March 2021 02:15 (three years ago) link
Think I would like to change my vote to either “me and the bean” or “Chicago at night”
― brimstead, Friday, 5 March 2021 03:11 (three years ago) link
man I completely forgot about the Love Ways EP, I jammed the hell out that 20 years ago
wait, not “me and the bean”, I meant “lines in the suit”!!
― brimstead, Friday, 5 March 2021 03:14 (three years ago) link
Everything Hits at Once. I think that was my number one in the Spoon poll. I love the drums on it
― nate woolls, Friday, 5 March 2021 07:43 (three years ago) link
I just realized this album has a great Berlin-Bowie sequencing.
went “Me and the Bean”
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Friday, 5 March 2021 07:47 (three years ago) link
ended up voting for "The Fitted Shirt," this album is top heavy. not that side 2 is not good but compared to side 1 it's hard to compete.
― Bee OK, Friday, 5 March 2021 16:25 (three years ago) link
yes. the tape I made Girls & Love Ways that dropped "This Book Is A Movie" & "Change My Life" to fit on one side is probably the best Spoon release, i should reach out to Matador about releasing it
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Friday, 5 March 2021 16:32 (three years ago) link
Never understood the love for “The Fitted Shirt.” I prefer my Spoon lyrics more inscrutable.
― "The Pus/Worm" by The Smiths (hardcore dilettante), Friday, 5 March 2021 16:45 (three years ago) link
if he was singing about food instead id dig it
― brimstead, Friday, 5 March 2021 17:32 (three years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Saturday, 6 March 2021 00:01 (three years ago) link
https://www.stereogum.com/2116535/girls-can-tell-turns-20/reviews/the-anniversary/
― Bee OK, Saturday, 6 March 2021 00:08 (three years ago) link
i should have thrown 1020 AM a pity vote just in honor of KDKA-Pittsburgh
― mookieproof, Saturday, 6 March 2021 00:53 (three years ago) link
1020am sounds like a ray davies song in structure and presentation to me
― pence's eye juice (Hunt3r), Saturday, 6 March 2021 04:07 (three years ago) link
Also i cant believe take a walk is 0 votes the FUCK ppl?
― pence's eye juice (Hunt3r), Saturday, 6 March 2021 04:08 (three years ago) link
It’s a bit reductive but woulda been #1 on a lesser album but
― "The Pus/Worm" by The Smiths (hardcore dilettante), Saturday, 6 March 2021 05:58 (three years ago) link
Strike the first clause
I think I voted for Lines. That "human resource clerk" section is one of my favorite Spoon moments - so Kinks-y.
― perhaps I myself was the object of my search (PBKR), Saturday, 6 March 2021 13:56 (three years ago) link
the vocal harmonies and the.. crunchy-ish sound reminds me of like rubber-soul/revolver era beatles
― brimstead, Saturday, 6 March 2021 18:38 (three years ago) link
how come i feel so washed up?