Pitchfork

You folks who paid import prices for the "I Turn My Camera On" CD single realize you got taken, right? If you were any sort of real Spoon fan-- meaning the sort that would spend $9 to purchase two songs-- you'd have pre-ordered Gimme Fiction back in May for its four-song bonus disc. And you'd have realized that the two B-sides from "Camera" were on that bonus disc, thereby making the purchase of said CD single redundant. Then you could've gone in on that Meat Lovers pizza with your roomie last week instead of hitting up the Taco Bell value menu for some super-sized bean burrito love for the third time this week.

Even if you missed the bonus disc, the two songs "Camera" re-releases aren't worth sweating. The actual bonus gems were the two demos, which were available to download on the band's official website months in advance of Fiction's release, and don't feature here. In their place, we're treated to one quote-unquote remix, and the outtake "Carryout Kids", which provides ample evidence that the best stuff from the Fiction sessions made it on the album. "Carryout Kids" doesn't sound like any particular Spoon song, but still manages to sound like something the group's done before, and done better. Once again, Britt Daniel plays the piano man, pumping away for tips but with enough down-time to have a "Glass Onion" moment. After a while, some guitar enters the picture, followed by some xylophone, while Britt keeps chugging along. And then there's a vocal sample of some sort at the end, and there you go.

That leads into "You Was It", an obnoxious amped-up version of album track "Was It You?" In case you want to have a old-person moment of the "turn that noise down!" variety 20 years before it's scheduled, just put this track on repeat. Those of you that really want to live that close to the edge-- so it sounds like you're at a shitty Lightning Bolt show sexing a bass amp-- can go with God. (Just don't forget the earplugs.) The one saving grace of this effort: It's about minute shorter than the album version.

The "Sister Jack" single, on the other hand, does right by the consumer. That is, if the consumer's looking to see how John McEntire can turn the aforementioned "Camera" into a Peter Gabriel song á la "Sledgehammer" or "Big Time". It's funny, but it's true-- emphasize the disco elements, insert more Britt oohs and ahhs, add some steel-mill sparks and echoechoecho, and suddenly everything goes Claymation. Nevermind the other track on this disc-- "Sunday Morning Wednesday Night" has a pretty bridge, but Britt's double-tracked mushmouthing earns the effort a begrudging sideways thumb. Thankfully, the six minutes of lead-footed boom-bap on the remix more than makes up for the other track's shortcomings. I dare say that McEntire's "Camera" is an improvement on the official version, but I prefer my disco moves to be opulent and gaudy; mileage will undoubtedly vary. Regardless, if there's any track from Fiction that's worth owning twice, it's "Sister Jack", so if the need to purchase new Spoon product overwhelms any prudent impulses, buy American.

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