SPOON
Girls Can Tell
(Merge)
***1/2

On "Me and the Bean," Spoon frontman Britt Daniel sings, "I'll bring you cover when you're cold/You'll bring me youth when I grow old/whoa-oh-oh-oh." With Daniel's English-by-way-of-Austin, Texas accent, the song comes off sounding like a pared down, less bombastic effort from the band Bush. But don't let a smart sense of melody fool you--Spoon has never been a grunge-appropriating bunch of hacks like Bush was. The band writes through a smarter set of influences, from slacker rock (via Pavement, Dinosaur Jr.) to '80s heartland stuff, as well as, more recently, '60s pop. On Girls Can Tell, Spoon puts out fluid, distortion-laced rock and roll that's catchy enough to make a person want to drink, dance, and get it on, even when the lyrics are sad. Which is most of the time: "If there's anything you want/Come on back 'cause it's all still here/I'll be in the back room drinking my half of the beer" (from "Anything You Want"). The more '60s-sounding elements on this record should make it interesting for fans who have hung around the trio since 1994. It's not even the band's finest album, but it's Spoon, after all. And whether you're a fan or a newcomer, Girls Can Tell will no doubt rub an unseasonable smile into your mealy Seattle face. JEFF DeROCHE

THE MAGIC MAGICIANS
Girl
(Suicide Squeeze)
***1/2

One frosty night in early January, Graceland's cup ran over with local musicgoers eager to be the first to catch the Magic Magicians. The thing was, the band's debut record wouldn't be out for weeks, and only friends and music journalists with advance copies tucked in their back pockets could really sing along. It was a testament to the cred of members John Atkins and Joe Plummer, then, that the venue filled up as it did. Those expecting the funereal rock of Plummer's Black Heart Procession or the emotive power pop of Atkins' 764-HERO, however, didn't get exactly what they came for. Girl is, in fact, more like coming upon a secret, fabulous AM station--one that's been lost in the ether for 25 years and is only now returning to earth via KCMU-friendly divining rods John and Joe. They say it's their love of Big Star, T-Rex, and the Beatles that inspired the record, and Atkins seems to have a serious Zeppelin moment on "Dakota," but songs like the gorgeous pop-dirge opener "I'm on Your Side" and the bittersweet hangover ditty "123 9 to 5" are, thankfully, all the musicians' own. If this is what they call magic, David Copperfield better watch his backside. LEAH GREENBLATT

THE X-IMPOSSIBLES
White Knuckle Ride
(Cargo/Headhunter)
**

On the sleeve of this CD there's a photo of a steering wheel feverishly gripped by the fists of what I assume to be a certifiably Hard man. Scrawled across the fists, a tattoo reading P.U.N.K.R.O.C.K. spells out the Hard man's musical preference, as well as the manifesto of the X-Impossibles. Ah, punk rock, hyperbolic love child of grammar school nutters in a foul mood and blue-collared anarchists--the very art of the registered complaint. The X-Impossibles are assuredly guitar-heavy and quite interesting at times. The problem is that lead singer Tim Lumley couldn't carry half the tunes on this album in a bucket. One would expect anybody who can sing tracks with titles like "Living Dead," "Cold Blooded," "Dead Horse," and "My Life" with a straight face would have developed a degree of defensive pretentiousness, but this chap is crooning like he just bought a better pair of leather pants than Scott Stap. He's booming out violent threats, not like the futile, white-knuckled underdog creep that the songs demand, but like the bastard who would beat your ass in the pub for looking at him funny. KUDZAI MUDEDE

CHRISTINA ROSENVINGE
Frozen Pool
(Smells Like Records)
***

As half of duo Alex Y, Christina Rosenvinge was a pop star in Spain and Latin America who churned out radio hits. After relocating to New York City, she shed her previous image and worked on material that reflected her love of Leonard Cohen and the Velvet Underground. She recorded Frozen Pool with Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley, as well as Two Dollar Guitar's Tim Foljahn. The result is far removed from the commercial fluff she once recorded. The jangling guitars are the Velvets at their most pop-crafted. The songs are an eclectic, understated mix that nod to French pop and bossa nova, with Rosenvinge's thin, restrained vocals recalling the ice and accents of European chanteuses Anna Domino, Julia P. Herscheimer, and Nico, with a sweet hint of Yo La Tengo's Georgia Hubley thrown in. The lyrics are ESL gloom and ambiguity, belied by the music's lilt. "Expensive Shoes" and "Taking Off" are two highlights, both playful and propulsive. Rosenvinge closes the album duetting with Tim Foljahn on Leonard Cohen's "Seems So Long Nancy." She proves herself a worthy addition to the Smells Like label, forgoing histrionics in favor of a more understated dramatic effect. NATE LIPPENS

GARAGELAND
Do What You Want
(Foodchain)
**1/2

It's hard not to fall under the spell of a song that begins, "In the middle of the ocean there are trashcans of devotion," especially when it comes on an album full of dreamy musings about jaded love, packed with blaring guitar hooks. New Zealand quartet Garageland blends influences such as the Faces and Phil Spector into a snappy set of songs. Nearly every track embodies a retro-ness that still manages to sound fresh despite the band's recognizable fondness for days gone by. KATHLEEN WILSON