Merge (2018, Reissue)
When I first started my post-Beck journey into the world of punk and indie rock, one of the most important records I bought was a compilation called Rock Stars Kill. It was released on Kill Rock Stars in 1994 and it was a CD I played constantly my senior year of high school. As an aside, even though I would almost never listen to it today, I probably should pick that comp up on vinyl one of these days, just for archivist purposes. Anyway, I discovered quite a few bands from that CD and one of them was The Spinanes.
I liked their song on that comp, "Stupid Crazy," enough that I ended up buying their CD Manos. And man, did I end up loving that record. From the minute the huge fuzzy guitar riff from opener "Noel, Jonah and Me" (not the absence of the oxford comma, just another reason to love The Spinanes) hits, I just fall head over heels for this album. They make a lot of noise for a two-piece consisting of drummer Scott Plouf and singer/guitarist Rebecca Gates.
The big guitar sound is always warm and melodic, never noisy just for the sake of it, and it meshes so perfectly with Gates' incredible vocals. I've had the CD for well over 25 years at this point, but decided I should pick up the vinyl. I hemmed and hawed about buying this reissue for a while as I don't really like the artwork, which differs from the original. But ultimately, It just made more sense to pick up a new copy for under twenty bucks than it would to overpay for an original with different artwork. It sounds as good as ever, and that's the important part.
The Spinanes - Manos:
https://thespinanes.bandcamp.com/album/manos
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