Arts
The Spinto Band have been making well-crafted pop since they were in high school. Though their early records were wobbly, the Delaware sextet had a gifted-child factor that doubtlessly flew over their teachers' (and most critics') heads. Their latest album, Nice and Nicely Done, shows them growing up a bit but not so much that they lose their Napoleon Dynamite-like appeal.
Growing Nicely: Spinto Band
Of course, you've got to wonder how much longer lines like "We can do it while I'm playing Atari" are going to work for a band whose members are now in their late teens and early 20s. But at this point, the Spintos' mix of progressive melody and high school awkwardness makes them one of indie rock's more interesting acts. "Brown Boxes," for example, combines a kazoo melody with the adult theme of breaking up and moving out.
Nice and Nicely Done was recorded in Nashville at Alex the Great studio. Co-produced by Lij and studio co-owner Robin Eaton (whose nephew, Jon Eaton, is a member of the Spintos), the record took five years to complete due to the band's school-defined schedules. "We had to work on spring break and Christmas vacation and stuff," Robin Eaton says.
The elder Eaton, who has overseen recordings by Jill Sobule and Butterfly Boucher, wasn't prepared for the strong early notices that Nice and Nicely Done has been receiving. "I've never worked on a record that was on the top of the charts in my local indie record store," he says. "Last week, they were ahead of Coldplay at Grimey's; the only record outselling them was The White Stripes." Recently, Nice and Nicely Done rose to 91 on CMJ's national airplay chart.
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"It's been great to watch the Spintos mature," Eaton says. "They're like sponges. They were staying in the warehouse next to the studio, and they picked up a lot of studio craft. When we weren't there, they'd take the hard drives into this big, boomy warehouse and record this big racket, then we'd add that back into the songs."
The intelligent hubbub that the Spintos create brings to mind a more confessional They Might Be Giants, but with its lilting synth, mandolin-driven groove and falsetto vocal, the record's apparent hit, "Oh Mandy," also recalls power pop aristocrats like Big Star and The Kinks. The Spintos play The Basement Thursday night.
—Paul V. Griffith