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On 2002’s excellent Kill the Moonlight, Spoon conducted what sounded like a caged-in series of mad-scientist studio experiments on Britt Daniel’s skewed pop songs. Spoon opts for a different direction on Gimme Fiction, creating a distinct sense of physical space and generating an impression of a working, breathing band—an illusion created by a lineup stripped to just two members, drummer Jim Eno and Daniel, who handles more or less everything else with minimal outside contributions.

It’s hard to argue with the results: Gimme Fiction is a stronger record than its predecessor, though not necessarily better. Spoon jacks up the emphasis on rhythm as Eno drives the dead-simple collapsed beat of “I Turn My Camera On,” the skip-along “They Never Got You,” and “Was It You?,” which sounds like the Gap Band embracing the sparseness of early new wave. Daniel’s own go-for-broke approach litters Gimme Fiction with spitfire noise guitar and orchestrates the churning piano tempest of “My Mathematical Mind” (one of Fiction’s few full-band performances). Best of all is the opener, the deliberate “Beast And Dragon, Adored,” which nicks the drums from CCR’s “Long As I Can See the Light,” processes them with echo for hypnotic effect, and marries the result to Daniel’s voice, a congested cross between fellow Austinite Davíd Garza and Liam Gallagher, as the piano chords he pounds out are left to decay in the air.