*** The Spinanes

THE IMP YEARS

(Merge)

When singer/guitarist Rebecca Gates and drummer Scott Plouf started making music, in the early '90s, they took the spirit of '80s-style jangle pop and fused it with the lo-fi enthusiasm that had begun to take hold in the Pacific Northwest indie scene. The formula was simple -- a girl and a boy, a guitar and a drum kit, and plenty of smart, melodic songs. Happily for anyone who wasn't savvy enough to grab the handful of singles the band released before Manos, their 1993 Sub Pop debut, North Carolina's Merge Records has them all on this EP. A brief, powerful retrospective, The Imp Years reveals that even early on the Spinanes were capable of creating a much fuller sound and larger impact than you'd expect from such a stripped-down duo. "Hawaiian Baby," with its lovelorn la-la-las and crisply layered guitars, is so elegant and wise that you can't help pitying the recipient of the song's doleful valentine -- some unfortunate sod who unwittingly allowed a good thing to slip out of his grasp. Thanks to The Imp Years, the same fate won't befall those who let the Spinanes' singles slip away.

-- Lois Maffeo