In many ways it's surprising that Spoon's 'Gimme Fiction' has been embraced so much by the music reviewing community. For here is a record which is radio-friendly and musically quite unambitious; its songs are largely based on 70s influences such as soul, funk and piano-led rock: hardly a brave new world. So the plaudits must be simply down to great songs and for this Spoon deserve some respect. 'Gimme Fiction' is solid rather than spectacular and has a few standouts worth mentioning. The stop-start jerky melody and falsetto vocals on 'I Turn My Camera On' is a peculiar but addictive gem, its fellow single 'Sister Jack' even has an anthemic, singalong quality and finally, teary number 'I Summon You' is the best evidence of the emotive power their music can generate. In the final analysis, it's a taut, well-structured and ultimately rewarding album that doesn't seem to fit in with the modern agenda but is all the better for it.