July 26, 2011

For our 4th edition of This Is A Call, let’s head back to the Sub Pop era of 1993 and relish in the pop single perfection of The Spinanes. Simply a 2 piece band consisting of Rebeca Gates on vocals & guitars with powerhouse drummer Scott Plouf, The Spinanes formed in the early 90′s and released their debut album “Manos”, along with the single “Noel, Jonah & Me” through Sub Pop the same year that acts like Earth, Six Finger Satellite & Mark Lanegan had unleashed their sludgy latest. Obviously they had more in common with fellow labelmates Velocity Girl and Eric’s Trip, but managed to carve out a nice little niche for themselves by perfecting these simple pop songs, which were elevated by Plouf’s hard hitting percussion’s.

While “Manos” is a solid debut record, it’s the single “Noel, Jonah & Me” that stands out as one of the albums’ more catchy & rockin’ tunes.

Plouf eventually went on to join the band Built To Spill from around 96 and on, whereas The Spinanes released 3 more albums, 2 with Sub Pop, one with Merge. I lost track of them after Manos, but perhaps it’s time to catch up? Starting with this single, our pick this month for “This Is A Call” is The Spinanes “Noel, Jonah and Me”: