Spoon - Everything Hits At Once: The Best of Spoon

Spoon looks back and forward on greatest hits collection

Spoon has been scooping out hits for more than two decades, and now the indie rock royalty has put out its first greatest hits collection — complete with a brand new single that fits perfectly within the band’s catalog. Dubbed Everything Hits At Once, the album serves a two-fold purpose, depending on how you come at this record. Frontman Britt Daniel says was initially skeptical of culling their output down to a greatest hits set, but came to realize it’s one of the oldest and best ways to introduce new fans to a catalog that can be intimidating to jump into without any direction.

“[A]t some point I remembered that when I got my first Cure record it was Standing on a Beach. When I got my first New Order record, it was Substance,” Daniel explained via NPR. "That was how I met those bands, and I moved backwards from there but I still listen to those comps.”

Out now on digital, vinyl and CD, Everything Hits At Once assembles 12 singles and deeper cuts from Spoon’s catalog of material dating back to 2001’s acclaimed Girls Can Tell, plus a new single. Earlier, late 1990’s albums Telephono and A Series of Sneaks are not represented in the collection. Considering the record is spotlighting tunes from seven albums — most of which are deep with several great songs — the set does a good job of spotlighting the best of the best. Though, fans will surely complain there are plenty of other songs that could’ve made the cut.

Though they obviously capture most of the hits, this record really serves more as a sampler for Spoon’s vibe. It’s sharp guitars, a bit of jangly pop, clever lyrics and beats that will stick in your head for days. Gimme Fiction’s “I Turn My Camera On” and “Everything Hits At Once” hold things together for OG fans, along with “The Way We Get By” from Kill the Moonlight. More modern favorites like 2017’s “Hot Thoughts” and “Do You” from 2014’s They Want My Soul round out the collection, buoyed by a few cuts from 2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and others.

To that end, Everything Hits At Once is the perfect entry point for fans who have never really gotten into Spoon. It hits the highlights, teases the deep cuts, and provides a clear window into what type of sound and feel you’ll find depending on whichever album you might want to dig into next. Put simply, it’s a gateway drug to Spoon’s deep catalog over the past few decades.

Thankfully, there’s also a little something for fans who’ve already rocked out to all those albums over the past few years. The band’s first new release since 2017, the single “No Bullets Spent,” rounds out the retrospective. The song blends the usual sound fans have come to know and love with a modern tale about economic woes and gun culture. It’s clever, timely and (not surprisingly) very catchy to boot.

(Matador Records)