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Spoon releases new album ‚ÄòTransference’

Posted on Feb 08, 2010 in Features

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New release by indie-rock phenom tops charts, pleases ears and combines various influences

Spoon are one of those bands that were under the radar for a while before they suddenly weren’t. Think Kings of Leon or Phoenix, who both put out three previous CDs before their current success. Spoon were likewise three albums in before they caused a ripple with 2002’s “Kill the Moonlight,” featuring “The Way We Get By,” which was featured on the hit show “The O.C.”

Their next CD, “Gimme Fiction,” was a huge critical favorite and debuted at 44 on the Billboard charts. The band’s prominence was upped considerably when songs from those last two albums were used in the Will Farrell vehicle “Stranger than Fiction.” The film was also co-scored by Spoon’s own Britt Daniel, the band’s singer and guitarist. Though not a huge hit, it certainly raised Spoon’s profile, and their next CD, 2007’s “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” debuted at number 10 on the charts, perhaps in anticipation of Lady Gaga’s world dominance. (Kidding!)

That all helps to explain why Spoon’s latest, “Transference,” debuted at number four on the Billboard charts, despite their still being a relatively low-profile band. “Transference” starts out sounding like it was recorded in someone’s basement, with “Before Destruction.” The song definitely has a lo-fi style reminiscent of Guided by Voices, but the album overall ends up sounding more like the latter-day hi-fi sound of GBV, after they left their low-fi sound behind. It’s almost like it picks up where they left off on their last CD, but then continues to move forward to newer sounds from there. It’s not often you hear a band progress over the course of an album rather than from album to album. The CD actually builds upon itself, adding more and more effects and production flourishes to each progressive track until reaching a climax with the multi-layered masterpiece “Nobody Gets Me But You.”

That sentiment could also serve as the band’s mantra to the fans that helped get them to reach the upper regions of the charts, given their unorthodox musical style. Other clear influences run the gamut from Can (after whom they named their band, courtesy of the song of the same name) and Pink Floyd, to Stereolab and, of course, The Beatles. Yet, they can also sound like a trippier, spacey version of The Strokes at times as well. (Would that the Strokes themselves would take such chances with their sound as Spoon does here).

Still, the GBV-sound looms large over these proceedings, albeit in a really great way. Songs are mostly kept relatively short, with the shortest clocking in at just over two minutes (the psychedelic-tinged “Is Love Forever?”). Nothing overstays its welcome here, and those that clock in around five minutes earn it, such as the hypnotic “The Mystery Zone.” The coolest revelation is how much like an album this feels like, in the traditional sense. It all flows together, from one song to another like a cohesive whole, rather than the current trend of a group of singles surrounded by a lot of filler.

Other highlights include the rollicking, piano-driven “Written in Reverse,” which almost sounds like raffic jamming with Elton John; and the sleek, slow-burn jam “I Saw the Light,” which is reminiscent of My Morning Jacket, until it breaks down for a jazzy interlude and starts sounding like ELO or Supertramp or some such ’80s prog-rock. (I halfway expected “Mr. Blue Sky” to come chiming in!)

Such disparate influences are what keep things interesting. You never quite know what kind of influence will creep in, be it the almost Sebadoh-meets-Tom Petty sounds of “Trouble Comes Running” or the bass-driven, Pavement-ish vibe of “Out Goes the Lights.” My favorite may be the driving, delightfully-titled “Got Nuffin,” which lopes along, adding Siouxsie & the Banshees-esque guitar bits and, forget cowbell, who’s that rocking the tambourine?

In another time, any one of these tunes could have been a hit, but it’s that defiantly their- own-band sound that the fans love them for in the first place. Spoon does their own thing, and they do it well, even if what they do is hard to put a finger on. Still, would you rather be hard-pressed to describe a band as simply sounding like this performer or that, or would you rather say: “Well, they a bit like a bunch of things.” If someone asks me, I’m just gonna say: “They sound like Spoon.

Spoon will be performing live at Birmingham’s own Workplay on March 19 on the Soundstage.
 

Email: ripmrgordo@hotmail.com

 




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