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Spoon : Transference :: Review

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The stripped back and raw sound of Spoon’s new album “Transference” offers a stark comparison to their Motown influenced predecessor “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” as band lead Britt Daniel has stated that what you’re hearing on the album are essentially the song demos. Gone is much of the studio trickery and overdubs leaving “Transference” a leaner record.  This has some fans bitching and moaning about how Spoon has lost their way and how this album is the equivalent to an aural abortion.

It’s not easy being a rock band when fans are this fickle but that’s the nature of the beast.  I’ll admit that if an established band releases a single that sounds foreign to my ears then I’ll quickly distance myself until I hear the album in its entirety to make an opinion.  What’s funny is that if said musician releases a new single that sounds too familiar to their previous album then I’ll find myself bitching about how the band has run out of ideas and they are also subsequently doomed.  That isn’t the case here and “Transference” shouldn’t be marked as a grower, which is also a kiss of death.

“Transference” is the sound of a band tightening its skills to the extremes while also adding a few new tricks to the mix such as the stop-start rhythms that seem to be in abundance (Is Love Forever, Mystery Zone.) Where the album really takes off is the taut “Written In Reverse” with features howled vocals and a jarring guitar and piano duet.  The angular “I Saw The Light” follows before leading into the poppy “Trouble Comes Running” and soulful “Goodnight Laura.”  The album’s momentum slows with the plodding “Out Go The Lights” but is revitalized by the new live staple, “Got Nuffin.”  “Transference” then fades out with the mechanical and monotonous “Nobody Gets Me But You” which goes on for three minutes too long.  Could this last song be an in-joke for fans of the band?  It’s possible, as it nearly derails what occurred before with its shifting and repetitive rhythms.  Nonetheless, it doesn’t make me lose faith in the band, as I should just realize they have something up their sleeve.

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