The Spinto Band

Ranked #29 out of 50 in "NME Albums of the Year" - NME

...the Spinto Band's two lead singers traverse enough styles for a week's worth of positive Pitchfork notices. Nick Krill does the wobbly David Byrne warble about as well as deservedly lauded Clap Your Hands Say "It Boy" Alec Ounsworth. See harpsichord-splashed breakup song "Did I Tell You" and Turtles-quoting synth-pop come-on "Spy Vs. Spy". But Krill can also do dead-on Brighten the Corners-era Steve-O Malkmus ("Late", which brightly details the everyday dangers of rushing home for a favorite show: "It's slippery by the pool"). Meanwhile, fellow songwriter Thomas Hughes covers the sotto-voce sensitive-guy territory. His kazoo-enhanced "Brown Boxes" zooms in on a move-out/breakup: packing a pointless Hummel figurine while half-wishing for box-cutters sharp enough to "end it all". As throughout the album, a buoyant chorus saves the day. - Pitchfork

...Delaware's Spinto Band have perfected a delicate balance of form and content. Moonwink's manic tunes are miniature rock'n'roll extravaganzas, with intricate melodies and airtight, detailed arrangements providing a dramatic setting for charmingly woozy singer Nick Krill (think early Sparks, only fronted by someone much sleepier). "They All Laughed" and "Vivian, Don't" could be dismissed as shiny pop fun -- and too clever for their own good -- until you discover the throbbing angst lurking behind Krill's giddy energy. - SPIN

...But of course with experience comes the ability to expand on even the more simplistic moments. The guitars are firmly reined, the keyboards are agreeably edgy,the pace is unremittingly breathless. Trad speed-jazz? Combining vaudeville melodies alongside a quirky pop sensibility lifts the eleven songs here above the merely angular and takes us to a unique space, and probably not somewhere everyone would want to go, but to my ears Moonwink’s only real flaw is its brevity. With the jittery energies of silent comedy jostling alongside lyrical conceits worthy of Tom Lehrer and a production that adds a vaguely sinister gloss to the entire proceedings, this is an album of the year, somewhere or other. - Delusions of Adequacy