SO WHO IN THE HELL IS SPOON? Spoon have spent the past two decades proving that minimalism doesnt need to mean thinking small. Throughout their eight albums, the Austin band has stuck with a bedrock sound built on chugging guitar, crisp hooks and frontman Britt Daniels wryly incisive vocals. Its what Spoon have done with that sound thats interesting – adding studio craft and classic-pop dynamics to songwriting that often cuts deeper than it lets on. The tensely coiled anxiety of their 2002 watershed album, Kill the Moonlight, was perfect for kids feeling burned by the Bush years; 2007s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga snuck into the Top 10 thanks to a bona fide pop jewel, You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb. No failed electronic experiment or breakup drama has sullied their run. Its just been one long stretch of slow-build greatness. Daniels unlikely swagger has always been Spoons not-so-secret weapon. Hes a smart, button-down-shirt kind of guy who sings with a mix of parched aggression and refined distance – a white soulboy who first felt the spirit listening to the Pixies. Over the years, hes led Spoon to a comfortable space somewhere between Wires skeletal post-punk, the Bee Gees late-Sixties art pop and the Seventies Stones tossed-off brio. Spoons eighth album is an immediate grabber on par with the groups best work to date. Its also the first time Spoon have worked extensively with big-name producers (alt-rock mainstays Joe Chiccarelli and Dave Fridmann), whove helped create a rich, luminous sound for a set of hooky songs. Album opener Rent I Pay kicks things off with an unadorned snare-drum smack. From there they build a tough, slow-churning track: brittle chords, gutrumble bass and garage-y organ back Daniels barked lyrics about sacrifice and self-respect. On Inside Out, he rocks a falsetto over a loping trip-hop beat; I Just Dont Understand is a pleading early-Sixties R&B ballad minus any cutesiness. The broad musical palette makes room for some of Daniels most emotional lyrics ever. Hes never exactly been Doctor Empathy, usually preferring to write from a guarded remove. Here theres more give, clarity and romance. Do you want to get understood? he asks on the plaintive Do You. Outliers big-ups a girl who walked out of Garden State because she had taste. Its a nice moment of self-deprecating wit: a guy whos cashed a few checks by placing songs on Veronica Mars and The O.C. taking a shot at the movie that helped make Hollywood safe for indie pop. The record ends with what might be the slickest, catchiest Spoon song yet. New York Kiss rides a surging dancerock groove worthy of LCD Soundsystem (or Ace Frehleys New York Groove, for that matter), cut through with shadow-play synths, rippling marimbas and haunted guitar rattle. Daniel sings about a fly girl from an exotic city and a memory that hits clear and sharp every time hes back in town. A couple of decades ago, this mightve been a rock-radio outlier. That era is long past. But Spoon have always done surprisingly well on their own terms, in their own world. And that world sounds bigger and brighter than ever.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 18:44:53 +0000
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