Spoon They Want My Soul 2014

I've been listening to this record a lot since it arrived recently. I think it is their best effort yet, and that is very high praise given the quality of their recent work.

In case you're not familiar with Spoon, let's review. A quirky, punkish indie band releases two relatively lo-fi records in the later 90's to generally good reception and limited sales. 2001 and 2002 see them release Girls Can Tell and Kill The Moonlight on the trendy Merge label, and both are successful with the critics and begin to see more sales. The band tours more, and the buzz builds. By the time of Gimme Fiction 2005, they hit big, score a #1 in the indie charts, and repeat in 2007 with Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. 2010's Transference makes it to #2, and they are by any measure a big deal.

Since Kill The Moonlight their records have become more and more accessible, with better production, nice instrumental arrangements and embellishment, and a little less sneer in Britt Daniel's vocal delivery. The path of their progression reminds me a bit of XTC- from punk to melodic modernism, and they have become as interesting in their own way as XTC was in their 80s heyday. Daniel's songs have improved significantly in melody and intricacy, and the band has solidified around Daniel, with relatively few personnel changes in the last nine years except for the recent addition of a second guitar/keyboardist, making the touring quintet capable of reproducing their studio work in the live setting.

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and Transference set a very high bar. The four-year wait was worth it. Daniel has written his best set of songs yet, without letting go of his quirks, but definitely favoring his recent melodic bent. There's even some arena rock here, and some perfect pop. But it still sounds like Spoon. I was going to take it track-by-track, but I struggle with describing what they sound like. I guess if you took The Shins and The Clash and Beck and Modest Mouse and threw them in a blender, you might get close. But Daniel's songs, lyrics, and approach to songcraft seem uniquely his own, and that makes this band something special indeed.

You can put this one on and listen to the whole thing. In fact, that is by far the best way to hear it. Somebody thought long and hard about the sequence. It is a cohesive effort, and there are really no weak songs.

If you've been following the band and like their recent work, you won't be disappointed. If you're new to Spoon, start here. After you fall in love with it, go get Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.