SPOON – Transference
Is Spoon the New Power Generation for the Pitchfork crowd? That’s the question posited by Spoon’s seventh studio album, Transference. Just think about that funky Batman soundtrack if you don’t get the connection. It’s easily to see Prince’s “Future” slipping between the one-two punch of Transference’s, “Who Makes Your Money” and “Written In Reverse.” Rob Pope’s bass groove and Eric Harvey’s dissonant keyboard jabs on “Nobody Gets Me But You” all but reek of the Petite Purple Performer. Singer/songwriter Britt Daniel certainly has his Princely moments as he unleashes those acrid snarls all over “Written In Reverse.” There’s even a sly wink to early Rolling Stones on “Trouble Comes Running” with Daniel doing his best Jagger while Harvey layers some vocal harmony over some fairly trashy sounding drums courtesy of the phenomenal Jim Eno.
But this ain’t no derivative work. These guys have made their bones during their 17 years as a band. Whether considering their major label fiasco with Elektra in ’98 or their scramble into the Billboard Top 10, Spoon has been laying down track like a pastel John Henry, staying just a step ahead of the machine that fought to break them down.
Psychologists say transference turns you into a biological time machine. It’s evident here. There’s an aural retrospect in effect, past failures brought to life on lyrics like “Oh but nobody loves you/Or woos you when you’re down or kicked” (“Out Go The Lights”) only to redeem themselves a few moments later with lines like “Everyone loves you for your black eye” (“Before Destruction”) or “I sell the world unto the world/It asks me back again” (“I Saw The Light”).
If you’ve ever see Spoon live then you’d know that these guys are the real deal. They’re stoic on stage — It looks too damn easy, Britt! — but with a vibe that the slightest breeze could derail the whole thing. The same controlled chaos is reproduced on Transference, an album teetering precariously on two sides of a chasm, straddling bedlam on one side and precision on the other. It’s a harrying ride, but well worth the price of admission.
(Merge Records, PO Box 1235, Chapel Hill, NC 27514)
