Search - Spent Poets :: Spent Poets

Spent, Apparently

J. Merritt | 12/06/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"These guys might have been done in by their own stylistic virtuosity as much as anything else. Originally known as Monkey Rhythm, the Spent Poets released this self-titled effort in 1992 and then sank without a trace shortly after the follow-up was shelved by the label. Predictably this is now a denizen of the "Shame It's Out-of-Print" File, but if you're a fan of late 80's/early 90's alternative, you should check it out if you stumble upon it. It has a quirky inventiveness, a bit of a postmodern Beatles feel. "Your Existential Past" is insanely catchy jangle-pop, "You Don't Know Me" rises and falls like a wave, and "You Can't Kill Michael Malloy" sounds like something off a period film soundtrack. As with any band that tries so hard to be cerebral and unique, there are moments of coyness and pretension, but these are a small price to pay. After all, how can you not like an album that samples "Orphee" and has a song named after Walt Whitman's facial hair?"