Spoon - Transferrence

2010
Merge

Okay, so I put this record on and heard the first song. My initial reaction to this new Spoon album was "there's no way this is going to live up to the awesomeness of GaGaGaGaGa." For the most part, I was pretty much right. This record takes the minimalism that Spoon always toys around with to a new level, which I guess is pretty cool, but overall it kindof makes this record sound boring. Oh well. I was excited to put this on late at night and just run the record the whole way through. It seemed like it'd fit in with the late night work I do, since overall I think this record is toned down. I mean, the first song on this record (Before Destruction) is so quiet and minimalist that it might lead you to believe it. It's pretty much Britt Daniel singing with his guitar with some synths and shit thrown in. The second song on this album, I don't even remember what it's called, because honestly I skip over it ever time I listen to this album. The third song, "Mystery Zone", is classic Spoon. It's pretty much the best song on this album. Jim Eno's drumming really carries this song along and it's pretty damn catchy. Who makes your money is a good follow up to that. After that, this record is weak sauce, until the last like 2 0r 3 songs, where it picks up again. Fucking Rob Pope lays it down in "Nobody Gets Me But You." What a catchy ass bass line. Hiring him to take the place of that one guy was probably a good idea, as was leaving The Get Up Kids behind.

Either way, this record doesn't quite suck, but sometimes it comes pretty close. In some ways some of the songs on here sound like b-sides from GaGaGaGaGa. It's pretty fun to drive around to, but you pretty much just want to put Mystery Zone on repeat. The rest of the songs don't really add up. And why the hell did they make "I saw the light" the single? That's like the most boring song on this whole album. Anyways, I think this falls into the category of "Should have been an E.P." or some shit like that. There's really like five or six really good songs on here, and the rest is boring as hell, and it really kindof detracts from the good songs (holy shit, Mystery Zone).

I'll give it 3 out of five steering wheels. It has its moments, but doesn't add up. You'll end up reaching for your iPod and becoming distracted while driving, since you'll want to skip songs.

-Sam