Background art from Walt Disney's The Sword in the Stone, 1963
"Carryout Kids" was the b-side to "I Turn My Camera On", a song that may be Spoon's biggest "hit" (it was used in a Simpsons episode, if you consider that to be a valuable metric.) But I find the b-side just as interesting, if not as infectious. Built on an electric piano riff (not unlike "Small Stakes" from Spoon's previous album, Kill the Moonlight), it uses the Spoon trick of making a lot out of a little. The keyboard bit is sloppy and supplemented just by Britt Daniel's voice until a couple chugging guitar parts enter the mix at the track's midway point. Some drum and xylophone come in toward the end, but the tension built on that piano riff never really hits any recognizable payoff.
"Carryout Kids" ends with a snippet of borrowed dialogue, a move that screams, "We didn't know how to end this song." This issue and the song's throwaway lyric are probably why the track got relegated to b-side status, but it's a fun listen. For some reason, I think of Billy Joel when I hear this song. I have no idea why - I have a vague memory of Spoon saying that this song had something to do with Billy Joel, but I have no idea what the connection would be.
"Carryout Kids" by Spoon
2 comments:
I played Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga for my wife, and she got a Billy Joel vibe off it too (especially "The Underdog").
In this case, I think it's to do with the piano octave thing at the very beginning, which almost echoes "My Life." And Britt Daniel's pugilistic voice seals the deal!
Excellent observations! I don't know "My Life" well, but I believe it does have an electric piano intro kind of like "Carryout Kids". I don't think Britt Daniel's vocals will ever remind me of Billy Joel, though.
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