When they first showed up in the mid-‘90s, Spoon had the misfortune of being lumped in with the legions of sound-alike “post-grunge” groups that held a vigilant stranglehold on FM radio and MTV. A wave of cut-and-paste poster boys all hell-bent on becoming the next Nirvana, even if it meant remaining blissfully ignorant to the lesson we should have learned about the pitfalls of media invasion from Kurt Cobain’s suicide. Never mind that “grunge” was no more than a phony marketing term made up by Viacom and Entertainment Weekly to begin with, an irony those Pearl Jam-lite groups didn’t even comprehend, and also ignore the fact that Spoon sounded nothing at all like such memorable acts as Better Than Ezra and 3 Doors Down, who ruled the world for a good solid month. However, unlike those other dipshits, Spoon’s music was noisy, introverted, and intelligent. In a better world they very well could have been as successful as Nirvana, so it came as no surprise that their only major label record, 1998’s A Series Of Sneaks, was a miserable flop in terms of commercial viability. It makes one wonder how they snuck their way into a major label deal in the first place, har har.
Terrible pun aside, the group was immediately fired from Elektra and sought refuge beneath the umbrella of Merge Records, where their music has become progressively more minimalist and, ironically, easier to digest with each passing release. This comes as a refreshing relief in this age of indie groups who love to “challenge” their audiences with unnecessary and self-indulgent side-trips to electronica-land. Nope, as of this writing Spoon have resisted the temptations of the rock opera, the concept album, and the “deeply personal and confessional” record. Yes, it is safe to say that you can count on Spoon to push out a great record de rock every three-to-four years.
Transference finds the band picking up just where they left off with Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga as if no time had passed between their recording dates. Unlike that album, however, Transference is willfully difficult even for Spoon, getting off to an auspicious start with “Before Destruction.” See, this is the kind of song most other bands would designate as a mid-album experiment, but if the goal is to alienate the listener from the onset then it is a fun little success. Britt Daniel and Jim Eno respectively milk a handful of chords and drumbeats building towards a release of tension that never arrives, nor does it arrive on the next track, or the one after that. Make note: Transference won’t have a surprise radio hit like “The Underdog.” At best, there’s a truly catchy keyboard hook on “Mystery Zone.” This isn’t your dad’s rock and roll album.
The rest of the album finds Spoon invading the sonic territory of the latest efforts from Yo La Tengo and The Flaming Lips. It’s the same kind of spacey, prog-rock influenced sound, which comes as a surprise from a band known for countless guitar anthems. It is the audio equivalent of a washed up wino in a bar, drunk on whiskey, staring off in the middle distance. Would I, personally, have preferred a few more solos and fuzzy freak-out jams? Yes, absolutely, because I am a simple man with simple needs. However, the ease with which Spoon can shirk expectations and throw commerciality out the window is not only commendable in this age of “play by the numbers or die” pop music, it’s downright praiseworthy. Of course, the second side of the record has a handful of blunt hard rockers (“Trouble” and “Got Nuffin”), but these trips down Dinosaur Rock Boulevard seem tossed off in contrast to everything else on Transference.
I’m gonna drop the editorializing for a moment and just be straightforward with you: Transference is the album I’ve always thought Spoon capable of making but never would. Sure, they’ve been going down this road for nearly ten years and, after hearing it, Transference seems to be the logical conclusion. But I still never saw it coming. It used to be that Spoon was a group easy to appreciate since their music never took any effort to love because they were, after all, a fun bunch of goofs who knew their way around a pop song. Now, though, universal appeal is no longer in the cards and Transference will be the line in the dirt between fans of old-Spoon and new-Spoon. I’ll say it flat out, Transference isn’t a great Spoon record and it’s not a great record period. However, it’s the album this group needed to make to destroy the preconceptions of what a Spoon record should be and it’s the album they had to make before they started rebuilding the wall. For the first time ever, I’m not sure what to expect next from Britt Daniel and Jim Eno.
Track List:
1. Before Destruction
2. Is Love Forever?
3. The Mystery Zone
4. Who Makes Your Money
5. Written in Reverse
6. I Saw the Light
7. Trouble Comes Running
8. Goodnight Laura
9. Out Go the Lights
10. Got Nuffin
11. Nobody Gets Me But You
