Sunday, January 24, 2010

Album Review: Spoon Transference


For many bands, going back to the well and coming up with the same old water is poison. The reason people don't buy new albums by The Strokes and Interpol is because they already have the old albums. Spoon seems to be the exception to this rule. For 15 years Britt Daniel and company have been pumping out some of the best minimalist, garage-pop this side of The Kinks. It's rare to see Spoon take too many risks - they have a style and they're sticking to it - but somehow it doesn't seem to get old.

Their newest effort, Transference, finds them going right back to the base again - simple, dancey bass rhythms, electric keyboards warbling in at just the right moment and guitars that throw tempertantrums all over the place. The only thing that seems to change (on this album and throughout their career) is Daniel's voice which alternates between a throat full of gravel and a falsetto that would make Prince jealous.

In some subtle way, Spoon has always been able to maintain a compelling air of mystery and that is on display once again on Transference. "Who Makes Your Money," is a pop gem with a dark underbelly and Daniel's pleading question at the end of the tune could easily be mistaken for something off of Thom Yorke's solo album. "I Saw the Light," is both sweet and menacing and Spoon play up their own image on "The Mystery Zone." The show-stopper on the album is "Goodnight Laura," a pretty, Lennon-esque love song that sounds like it's being played on a piano that washed up on a Coney Island beach decades ago.

If your looking for something you've never heard before, you won't find it here. What you will find is a band that just keeps getting better and better at doing what it does.

4 comments:

  1. WEB SHERIFF
    Who You Gonna Call
    Tel 44-(0)208-323 8013
    Fax 44-(0)208 323 8080
    websheriff@websheriff.com
    www.websheriff.com

    Hi AOoN,

    On behalf of Merge Records and Spoon, many thanks for plugging "Transference" on your site (street date 18th Jan UK / 19th Jan US) ... .. thanks, also, on behalf of the label and artist for not posting any pirate links to newly released (studio) material and, if you / your readers want good quality, non-pirated, preview tracks, then a full length version of "Written in Reverse" is available for fans and bloggers to post / host / share etc at www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120830261&ps=bb2 ... .. for further details of the new album, on-line promotions, videos and 2010 shows, check-out the band's official site at www.spoontheband.com and keep an eye on official sources for details of further Spoon news, preview material and on-line promotions.

    As a special, goodwill gesture to fans and bloggers, an exclusive preview stream of the full album is now available via the band's site and as part of NPR Music's Exclusive First Listen series at www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122279793 ... .. this is for hyper-linking ONLY and for streaming by fans directly off the band's official site and NPR, so please reciprocate this goodwill gesture by NOT ripping or embedding these files.

    Thanks again for your plug.

    Regards,

    WEB SHERIFF

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  2. Anonymous25/1/10 09:58

    WEB SHERIFF? Creepy Big Brother stuff man...

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  3. Anonymous25/1/10 12:08

    I wonder if that's his real name.

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  4. Bizarre huh? It's like getting pulled over and thanked for driving at the correct speed. U feel both violated and sort of proud at the same time.

    ReplyDelete