Spoon Deliver Yet Again

Austin’s indie institution, Spoon, put out another great one with 'Transference.' The sun also rose this morning.

Spoon
Transference
Release Date: Jan 19, 2010

Spoon is so consistently good and has become so comfortable with its sound and the songs of vocalist/guitarist Britt Daniel that it’s almost boring. .  If the past decade and a half has taught us anything, it's that every two to three years we can expect an excellent Spoon LP. Transference, an excellent collection that showcases both Daniel’s formidable songwriting ability and the increasing cohesion of the band’s now seemingly permanent lineup (including founding drummer Jim Eno, former Get Up Kids bassist Rob Pope and multi-instrumentalist Eric Harvey), is no exception. While the songs on Transference lack the flashy hooks of some of the band’s prior releases (see 2002’s Kill The Moonlight and 2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga), they are no less effective and together make for a solid addition to Spoon’s catalog. Given what has come before, that is no small feat.

The record hits its stride and delivers a string of highlights in its middle section. The dubby thump of “Mystery Zone” is accentuated by random howls from Daniel, and abruptly (and by abruptly, I mean fucking suddenly, like mid-syllable) shifts to the stunning, sexy late-night jam (and out-of-nowhere candidate for remixes) “Who Makes Your Money.”  After several listens the album’s most memorable track, “Money” is a nice reminder that Daniel and Spoon could stand to deviate from their usual script more than every once in a while. The problem with that suggestion, however, is that Spoon executes its signature style as well as it does. The band reverts to familiarity on the crunchy guitar rocker “Written in Reverse” to great results, and follows the tune with “I Saw the Light,” another standout that employs a 6/8 time signature before transitioning to a chugging beat-driven instrumental.

The latter part of Transference has less of the “wow” moments of the album’s stellar middle, but is solid nonetheless. Echoes of McCartney and “Ruby Tuesday” waft through the pretty, to-the-point ballad “Goodnight Laura,” and the breezy “Out Go the Lights” continues the record’s notable shift in production style and tasteful utilization of dubbed-out studio effects. Rocking 2009 EP title track “Got Nuffin” is familiar but adds some muscle to the back half of the record, and “Nobody Gets Me But You” ends the album on an interesting note with an angular disco beat, great bass work by Pope, and bursts of dissonant piano.

A simultaneous gift and curse of Transference is that the majority of its songs would fit comfortably nearly anywhere in the band’s catalog. The lack of an instantly recognizable single on the record is refreshing given the shocking radio-readiness of parts of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, but also makes the album feel like a collection of “album cuts” from Spoon’s earlier releases. The band’s experimentation in the studio with production effects (Transference was self-produced) peppers the record with recurring themes that make for a nicely encapsulated musical statement, albeit one that doesn’t indicate much, er, transference from previous efforts. Oh well. Yet another candidate for year-end lists.