Spoon

Austin, Texas band Spoon have been praised for forging their own distinctive sound in the crowded indie-rock market (despite their earlier records sounding rather similar to the Pixies). They also have one of the best averages on review compiling website metacritic.com, with each of their last four albums scoring between 84 and 88 out of 100. This suggests they are among the most consistently enjoyed bands among music critics, though there is no common consensus on which of these four records is the best.

Britt Daniel and Jim Eno are the singer/guitarist and drummer core of the band. Forming in 1994, they struggled to gain a foothold in the music industry as their first two albums were both followed by label moves. Debut album Telephono was released in 1996 on Matador, and then A Series Of Sneaks followed in 1998 on Elektra. When Elektra dropped them soon after, Spoon released an EP cheekily titled The Agony of Laffitte (after a disliked staff member at Elektra).

Another move, this time to Merge Records, proved more fruitful. Their first Merge release (and third album overall) was Girls Can Tell, in 2001. It received glowing reviews and sold more than both their previous albums combined. They followed that up the next year with an album that received even better critical appraisal - Kill The Moonlight - and similarly successful sales. After a short break, Gimme Fiction was, predictably, well-received in 2005, and in 2007 Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga did not disappoint.