While their intoxicating 1996 debut album, Telephono, invited comparisons to the Pixies, Spoon's second full-length album finds the Texas trio continuing in the direction of 1997's Soft Effects ep, toward a fully formed sound of their own. And though it may not pack the immediate punch of Telephono, A Series of Sneaks mixes the band's various influences into a heady art-pop stew that is altogether more mature, cohesive, and original.

Tony Peltier