Album Review: Spoon

Spoon
Transference
[Merge Records]

I’m not exactly sure why, but there is something about Spoon that makes it hard for them to stay in our consciousness. But when they put out a new album we all remember how much we love them, and three months later they return to the abyss from which they came; until Britt Daniel and co. reemerge later a new record. And as with 2005’s Gimme Fiction and 2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Transference is just another notch on Spoon’s storied musical bedpost.

Every note of Transference is raw and urgent, constantly exorcising demons that swirl from the band’s ever-maturing musical landscape. The arrangements are a jumble of influences that shake out with no self-indulgence or over-importance – kinda like a late 70’s Tom Waits album.

The pounding rhythm and Britt’s snotty vocals make “Written in Reverse” an endearing love song for the emotionally detached generation to which he sings and of which he belongs. It’s as if Spoon is slowly evolving into the Velvet Underground of a disenfranchised era that’s been ravaged by divorce and armed only with iPods. Musically “Trouble Comes Running” is so caustic it leaves you confused, but the lyrics are so poignant and direct you never get lost in the confusion. While a ballad like “Goodnight Laura” proves that Spoon doesn’t have to push boundaries to remain relevant, and that simplicity is best when called for. And “Got Nuffin” rolls and builds to an unexpectedly subtle crescendo, reminding us of Britt’s unstated promise that he has everything under control.

And the final song on Transference, “Nobody Get Me But You” seems to be a secret handshake between the depressed, down-hearted, and disenfranchised.

Throughout the album Britt’s scratchy guitar lines and Eric Harvey’s keyboard bounce off drummer Jim Eno’s percussion like a basketball off a gym floor. The rest of the record, smeared with echoing harmonies and tense lyrics, reestablishes Spoon as the most enduring, creative force in independent music.