Like Chrissie Hynde of the pretenders, Rebecca Gates of the Spinanes uses a pluralist name to avoid being stuck in a singer/songwriter pigeonhole. On their previous two albums, the then Portland, Oregon-based Spinanes were a guitar-and-drums duo. After drummer Scott Plouf's departure, two years ago, Gates moved to Chicago and began playing with various musicians, including Elliott Smith, Beck, Ben Lee and the Mekons. With its layers of guitars, vocals, keyboards and driving drumbeats, Arches and Aisles is richer and more accomplished sounding than the Spinanes' earlier maxed-out minimalist love rock. Gates' narratives are as opaquely lyrical as their titles ("Leisure Run," "Heisman Stance"), but she's not afraid to use a classic-rock riff, cascading melody or hook-y line like, "You say she needs you" – repeated more menacingly each time – to draw listeners into her song picture books. More an impressionist than an expressionist, she shades every device with whispers, icy enunciations, pauses, picked strings or sly turns of phrase. On your second listen, you'll be humming along; on your twentieth, you'll still be trying to figure out what she means. (RS 789)
EVELYN MCDONNELL
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Arches And Aisles
