Though they only released three albums,
the Spinanes helped define -- and then transcended -- the sound of Pacific Northwestern indie rock in the '90s. The combination of guitarist
Rebecca Gates' rich songwriting and sensual vocals with
Scott Plouf's inventive drumming made for music that was equally direct and complex. Even on their early singles,
the Spinanes' brash riffs and drums hinted at something more complicated, and their 1993 debut album
Manos owed as much to folk, jazz, math rock and singer/songwriter traditions as it did to indie rock.
The Spinanes' sophistication only grew on 1996's atmospheric
Strand (the band's final album with
Plouf) and 1998's
Arches and Aisles, which added touches of soul and post-rock to their already distinctive music. Thanks to their mix of inventiveness and restraint,
the Spinanes' body of work still sounded fresh decades later.
Hailing from Portland, Oregon,
Gates and
Plouf began playing together as
the Spinanes in May 1991. They played their first show at that August's International Pop Underground in Olympia, Washington, and their song "Jad Fair Drives Women Wild" appeared on K Records' compilation of songs by bands who performed at the six-day festival. After releasing the singles "Rummy" and "Suffice" on Imp Records in 1992,
the Spinanes signed to Sub Pop, making their label debut with the 1993 single "Spitfire." That October, the duo's first full-length
Manos arrived. A thoughtful, airy set of songs that highlighted
Gates' intimate vocals, it spawned two more singles, "Noel, Jonah and Me" and "Sunday" and became the first album released by an indie label to top the CMJ charts. Along with touring extensively in support of
Manos, in 1994
the Spinanes contributed the track "Stupid Crazy" to the Kill Rock Stars compilation Rock Stars Kill.
Gates and
Plouf then spent some time collaborating with other artists:
Plouf played with
Team Dresch and
Beck, while
Gates sang backup on albums by
Elliott Smith and
Ben Lee.
When they returned in 1996 with their second album
Strand,
the Spinanes expanded and polished their music, bringing in friends such as
Smith and
the Decemberists' John Moen to provide backing vocals.
Plouf left
the Spinanes in 1997 when
Built to Spill, with whom he was also playing, signed to Warner Bros. Records. Following his departure,
Gates moved to Chicago and recruited drummer
Jerry Busher and bassist
Joanna Bolme to make
the Spinanes' third album, 1998's
Arches and Aisles. Recorded at Easley McCain Recording in Memphis, Tennessee and with
Tortoise's
John McEntire at his Soma Electronic Music Studios in Chicago, the album reflected the band's increasingly sophisticated approach with nods to R&B and post-rock.
In 1999,
Gates retired
the Spinanes moniker. The following year,
The Imp Years collected the band's earliest recordings as well as previously unreleased material.
Gates reunited with
McEntire for her solo debut, 2001's Ruby Series EP. For the rest of the decade, she focused on her work as a curator, lecturer, and audio editor, but also lent her vocals to albums by artists such as
the Decemberists,
Laetitia Sadier and
Willie Nelson. In 2012, she released The Float, which included contributions by members of
Califone,
Wild Flag,
Los Lobos and
Tortoise. In 2018, Merge Records released a deluxe version of
Manos to commemorate the album's 25th anniversary. ~ Heather Phares