by Michael LelloWeekender Editor
There’s a big difference between trying to be cool and pulling it off. An example from the baseball world: Alex Rodriguez tries to be cool. Derek Jeter is cool.
The same goes for bands, and Spoon, while making it look and sound effortless, is cool. That don’t-try-this-at-home ease is all over “Transference,” the Austin, Texas, band’s seventh album. You can hear it in Britt Daniel’s cracked falsetto in “The Mystery Zone.” You can hear it in the angular stomp of “Written In Reverse” and the slow-boiling “I Saw The Light.”
“Transference” might be best described as a sneaky album. None of the songs will knock your socks off initially, but given time, they’ll bore their way into your brain, especially when the songs begin to work together and resonate with one another.
Spoon chooses to start with the rather nondescript “Before Destruction,” which begins with an odd drum pattern, dreamy keyboards and Daniel’s distorted voice. The vocal effects are then abandoned; Daniel sings loud and clear, and a more direct sonic narrative emerges. “Is Love Forever?” a jumpy and jangly track, is up next and is followed by “Mystery Zone,” a deceptively layered blend of funky drums and bass, slashing guitars, string effects and some of Daniel’s best vocal nuances.
The individual tracks are constructed to be more greatly appreciated after repeat listens, but the album as a whole is also sequenced to reward taking it all in without shuffling between tracks. For example, the sweet ballad “Goodnight Laura” has a greater impact if you have just heard the track before it, “Trouble Comes Running,” an up-tempo garage rocker. The latter grows from a tasty but sloppy intro reminiscent of former Scranton band Okay Paddy to a chorus with harmony vocals pilfered from The Who’s “Substitute” or “Happy Jack.”
“I Saw The Light,” “Out Go The Lights,” the New Wavy “Got Nuffin” and album-finisher “Nobody Gets Me But You” also all play symbiotic roles, feeding off of but not upstaging each other.
“Transference” is worth as many spins as you’ll give it. It’s the rare album that will find a home in mini-van CD changers between Wilco and Coldplay as well as on hipster blogs’ year-end lists.
Rating: W W W W W
