Don't you love Spooning??!!?!

Britt Daniel and co. have done it again. Spoon’s new album Transference is, just as BD told Melena Ryzik of the New York Times, “the Spooniest of all.” I take “Spoony” to mean something like…calculated nonchalance? I know, Hello Pretentious Mary, nice to see you again. But really, Spoon just exudes this. Their biggest hits have been of the pared-down, deceptively-simple variety (i.e. “I Turn My Camera On” from 2005’s Gimme Fiction and “The Way We Get By” from 2002’s Kill the Moonlight). Songs ridiculously fit for humming; songs seemingly built for toe-tapping and drumming on the steering wheel. Let’s face it, in even the least solid Spoon song, it seems like Britt Daniel could just stop singing and shout, “Hey, I’m a rockstar, and I’m cool!” He’s got the rare, magical Swagger of Jagger and the genuine talent to accompany it.

The least “Spoony” song on this album is definitely “Goodnight Laura,” but that doesn’t make it bad-only a ballad, kinda outside the band’s normal shtick.

The new album, IMHO, is near-flawless, and the Freudian title (love it, BD's such a smarty) gets an A+. As a big Spooner (ha) I’m a little biased. “Trouble Comes Running” is, for now, the standout track for me. It’s the one that I immediately loved; it’s a supercharged song with all the energetic and addictive qualities of the best Spoon songs. It’s easy to hear that immediately. The album is "Spoony," most def, but definitely with less of the jingle-jangle bounce-bounce pop sensibility found on 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. My only gripe about the entire album: track 3, “The Mystery Zone,” at certain points, sounds a little too much like “The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine” from Gimme Fiction. But that’s me being nitpicky and LOOKING for something to find remotely wrong with this album. Hey now. Who am I to criticize Spoon? “Valentine” is a good song, “The Mystery Zone” is a good song, they’re by the same band and they happen to sound similar. As far as I’m concerned, their track record in the “variation” department has been super solid so far; no need for me to get my panties in a wad about a similarity most casual listeners won’t notice.

In my eyes (uh ears?) Spoon seems to always sound stylish but timeless. They’re cheeky, but not in the same way cutesy groups like Belle & Sebastian are cheeky. They are masters of the fine line. Cheeky without being cute, smart without being snobbish, and classic without being old.



Transference was released yesterday (Jan. 19) on Merge Records; get it in stores or on iTunes. (come on though, you know you want the CD itself. Or if you buy it on itunes, get the whole album!! Thanksloveya.)