Listen to “Trouble Comes Running” from Transference

Spoon has become the stuff of legend.  Throwing together post-punk/R & B styled rock ‘n’ roll from the 70’s, Spoon rode what was arguably the longest winning streak in modern rock history.  From the storied battles with A&R managers nearly a decade ago, to their rise from Saddle Creek records, Spoon has always found a place in indie critic’s hearts despite being one of the most recognized bands in pop culture. A catalog of records on “best of” lists, the world over, Spoon was the band that could do no wrong.  However, on their latest record, Transference, the band seems to be throwing the creativity-transmission into neutral and chose to cruise with what they’ve got.  This isn’t a bad thing . . . it’s Spoon for god’s sake . . . but at some point, we’re going to get sick of listening to Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.

Sneakily releasing an EP in 2009, with the Got Nuffin’ EP Spoon was prime for a breakout year in 2010.  The stars had aligned, and everyone’s favorite pop supergroup had reformed into the megatron robot that they were.  With the release of Transference, rock critics and hipsters were already salivating and ready to reorganize their “Best of the Decade” lists.  What happens on Transference, though, is a mystery.  There is no complete thought in the entire album and the band securely carves a niche  in the grooves and rhythm of their classic rock ‘n roll’ schooling instead of venturing out and into more innovative writing.

The album takes a few tracks to really get to a point, as openers “Before Destruction” and “Is Love Forever?” mix the classic hipster formula into a frothy, pop milkshake to reaffirm listeners that they are, in fact, Spoon.  The credit seems to fade though, as the clicks-and-pops of the apparently impromptu “Mystery Zone” throws a slow jam into the mix and leaves the band at a loss for lyrics.  At points, Spoon becomes so enthralled with their own beats and R&B, that they ignore the full composition of the song, let alone the entire album . . . the very skills that catapulted Spoon to Godhood.

In all fairness, there certainly are bright spots with the single, “Written in Reverse”, the very-Spoon-sounding “Trouble Comes Running” and “I Saw a Light”.  Afterwords, Spoon relaxes into a victory lap of sorts on Transference, and lounge comfortably into the producer chair, at the helm of their new record to fulfill a 3-year void.  Thankfully, “Got Nuffin’” appears later in Transference’s track list to add a bit of spark to the mix, or else the entire composition would’ve come crumbling down.

Transference is still worth a leisurely listen or two, and makes a good addition to a Spoon listener’s collection.  This, however, is not the place to start for newspooners.  So enriched with pop-sugar, this album seems more geared towards commercial jingles than it does live staples and club-jammers like past albums have.  Anyone looking to see how and why Spoon became the band that every college kid loved, start, indefinitely, early on with A Series of Sneaks, Kill the Moonlight, and Gimme Fiction.  These are the albums that show a band of leather jacket wearing, indie-band drop outs; ready to “drop off a few tunes at the studio”.  Everything on these albums breeds improvisation and snot-nosed melodies.  Everything after just seems a bit forced into the mainstream.

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Related posts:

1. Track of the day: Spoon – "written in reverse"
2. Track of the day: Spoon – “Quincy Punk Episode”
3. Sights: Spoon on Conan

Amidst making the rounds for Transferrence, Spoon stopped by Conan on Jan 19th to drop off a performance of the blog-busting, “Written in Reverse”.  This song has been lighting up blogs for the past 3 months and continues to gain steam.  It is, perhaps, the best song off of Transferrence.  Enjoy.

Related posts:

1. Track of the day: Spoon – "written in reverse"
2. Spoon throws it in neutral on Transference
3. Track of the day: Spoon – “Quincy Punk Episode”

TrendRobot Rating:  8/10

I simply had to designate Spoon as the bearers of today’s Track of the Day.  With somewhat of a disappoint showing on their latest, Transferrence, I had to put a nod in to the great work on prior albums.

Albeit a pop supergroup of sorts, Spoon was always innovative in that everything was stripped down to it’s bare, raw, lo-fi essence.  Sounding like a garage recording from the 70′s, Pitchfork once described Spoon’s early sound as “just swinging by the studio to drop off some tunes”.  I couldn’t have summed it up any better.

Playful and exuberant, Britt Daniel stretches his rasp beyond key every opportunity he gets on A Series of Sneaks.  The band, on this album, really established their forte in creating brit-rock infused R&B, playing through grooves and rhymes as only white men can.

Related posts:

1. Track of the day: Spoon – "written in reverse"
2. Spoon throws it in neutral on Transference
3. Sights: Spoon on Conan

TrendRobot Rating: 8/10

Listen to Written In Reverse

Spoon has to be the re-incarnation of pure rock ‘n’ roll . . . I mean true rock ‘n’ roll before big labels . . . before money and fame were involved.  The indie super-gods are the most infectious, honest act to record music in the last decade and never fail to swagger through their acclaimed catalog.

“Written in Reverse” is the first single from the band’s upcoming Transferrence album, to be released this January.  The track is a dirty, sexy sprawl through a nightclub.  Beer, shot, and chaser; Reverse is a dancefloor seduction with gritty guitar, entrancing vocal lines and a piano fit for Top Gun fame.

Write it in reverse . . . just don’t get too worked up until January.

Please . . . educate yourselves in the ways of Spoon

Related posts:

1. Spoon throws it in neutral on Transference
2. Track of the day: Spoon – “Quincy Punk Episode”
3. Track of the day: Arctic Monkeys – “Catapult”