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Party Of One
07/29/1998 6:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Eric Broome
The Spinanes' new record may be titled Arches And Aisles, but it could have just as easily been called Back To Square One.
Four years ago, the Spinanes were indie-rock royalty. The duo's debut album, Manos, was the first Sub Pop release ever to hit No. 1 on the CMJ college charts (an amazing distinction, when you think about it), and the soulful "Entire" and "Noel, Jonah And Me" quickly became college radio standards. Critics flipped for the caressing melodies and grainy sensuality of Rebecca Gates's voice, while lo-fi purists touted the group's sparse, uncompromised sound (guitar and drums, no bass). However, when the Spinanes' second disc, Strand, finally came out in 1996--months overdue--the direct pop appeal of Manos had been replaced with moodier songs, arty arrangements and an eerie abandoned-shipyard ambience. Not exactly 120 Minutes fodder, Strand was largely ignored.
To make matters worse, Gates lost her collaborator soon afterwards, when drummer Scott Plouf quit and joined Built To Spill. Gates was left with no band and a puzzled fanbase. Completing her lifestyle purge, she moved from Portland to Chicago and started fresh.
"It's been a difficult adjustment," Gates says, chatting in a Hollywood coffeehouse before a solo acoustic set, "but mostly it's been positive. Scott and I quit working together because we weren't having fun doing it, and I moved to Chicago because I was tired of living in Portland. Those are really positive things. I mean, there was definitely a period where I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep playing music. Music is really special to me, but when you do it at the level that I do it at, there starts to be other non-musical things which become just as important. I wasn't sure if I was going to keep playing music in this way. But after awhile, I realized that I really wanted to, so I decided to make another record."
Dumping the duo concept, Gates chose not to replace Plouf, instead calling upon various friends new and old (including Tortoise's John McEntire and the Sea And Cake's Sam Prekop) to create a rotating lineup that could be customized for each song. The result is Arches And Aisles, a warm, intimate collection that expands the classic Manos sound without betraying it. Keyboards and overdubbed harmonies now play a more prominent role, and Gates's idiosyncratic guitar pickings have grown markedly in subtlety and skill. "Greetings From The Sugar Lick" and "Sucker's Trial" add a dash of '60s soul, "Reach V. Speed" ripples with vocal tradeoffs between Gates and Prekop, and "Kid In Candy" and "72-74" should bring back the college airplay that Strand didn't receive.
Gates's emotionally evocative lyrics remain somewhat of an enigma. Full of personal symbols, her songs most often seem phrased as gentle advice to a close friend. The listener can eavesdrop, but it's an incomplete dialogue--pieces of the story are missing. Gates suggests looking to the album title, and its hints of religion, for answers.
"I don't like to get too much into 'artiste talk,' but for me, a lot of this record has to do with worship, whether it's worship of love, or worship of another person, or worship of your own independence or sexuality or church or whatever. That feeling, and that sort of awe. That sort of comfort, too."
However, ask Gates about a specific line and she hedges. "I don't know, it's hard to define. I work on lyrics over a long period of time, but once they're done, I kind of forget how they got there. It's not like 'mystical.' It's just that I work and work, and then I'm like 'Okay, that one's done--I like it and it's gotten to the right place,' and I forget about it."
Presumably, others won't forget Arches And Aisles so quickly. Gates is justifiably proud of the record, and now that she's the Spinanes' sole songwriter (as well as the only constant musician and even the producer), she scarcely has to share any of the credit. Since this disc worked out so well, one wonders if she'll ever form a true band again. For now, Gates seems to favor her current super-session strategy.
"I feel like I had this incredible opportunity where I could ask people to play, and ask anybody. So I'm really enjoying that. If a band comes together, then great, it'll be because we all wanted it to come together and it feels right. But I'm much more interested in trying to deal with it organically at this point."
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