Review: Spoon's Transference, The First Huge Album of 2010

Spoon became indie rock heroes by making experimental music highly palatable. They are the underdogs who top the charts. And now, for their next trick, Spoon has pulled the tablecloth out from underneath dinner- not only without upsetting anything, but making the meal much meatier. On Transference, the horns are gone and the hooks have been sharpened. Spoon have narrowed the focus of their austere rock sensibility further than ever before, resulting in a stripping so bare that at times all you hear on the album is the tension between its instruments.

The album delivers on both cerebral and gut-level fronts, ripping indie rock out of its wearying contexts with Britt Daniel’s signature snarl. Transference is an album about what isn’t there, throwing all the sonic weight behind what’s present. It’s built on a skeleton of rock riffs straight out of the early sixties and fed a strict rock diet of agnosticism, antagonism, and solitude. Although it’s easy to wax philosophical about what all this means, “all I know is all I know,” sings Daniel- and all we really know is that this is a huge album.

Transference starts off slowly, but as on other Spoon albums, it leads with a thesis statement of a track early on: “Mystery Zone” sounds permanently suspended somewhere above an empty train station. It introduces the theme of missing signifiers that continues throughout the album. Britt drops syllables, words, and entire phrases, finally cutting off the song entirely, leaving it to bleed into the rough edges of the album’s experimental setpiece “Who Makes Your Money?” This could be a reproach, or it could be pillow talk, but it’s certainly a gorgeous display of Daniel’s ability to turn a phrase- and to turn a sound into a phrase. As always, his oohs and ahhs speak more than his lyrics.

Negatives, absences, and exits loom large over the entire album, from the titles “Nobody Gets Me But You,” “Got Nuffin,” and “Out Go the Lights” to the lyrics “I’m not standing here,” “Will you lose a bit of yourself? and “just as you’re leaving, you turn around and take a cold shot.” Even the few concrete images we do get are all a step removed from intimacy: ex-girlfriends, photographs, a hearse, a blank stare. In opaque lyrics typical of Spoon, the “Mystery Zone” mentions ‘the emotion sense-’ and we have to wonder whether Spoon have left the specific emotional circumstances out of the listener’s reach on Transference in order to better record the visceral feel of the emotions themselves.

But never fear, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga devotees. The piano ballad “Goodbye Laura” serves up all the warmth and reassurance denied by some of the other tracks. “Trouble Comes Running” rumbles and crashes headlong with a welcome familiarity that will gratify all fans. And “I Saw the Light” is a sweeping anthem to match any of the Spoon classics like “Don’t Make Me a Target.” “I Saw the Light” waves the banner for deconstruction, containing both the biggest and smallest moments on the album. Epiphany-inspired guitar riffs break loose into a full wall of sound before suddenly being shaved down to one single keyboard note at a time trickling over the beat. Of course, then it’s time to rebuild the entire house of cards… and Spoon once again prove that the right formula never gets old.

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Spoon [Myspace] [Official]

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By Rachael Sawyer in Arts & Entertainment on January 20, 2010 1:21 PM 0 Comments

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e-rock

Why is the word "experimental" so precious to people that make "experimental" music? What exactly is experimental music anyway? Is holding a note with a reverbed oboe while someone noodles with guitar effects over fucked up jazz beats considered experimental? Leave it to Mr. Ronsen, the local avant-garde expert and experimental music police chief, to make such a fuss over an average sounding pop album from a band that could record themselves taking shits and people would still love their stuff. Now, that would be experimental.

Rachael Sawyer

I should've been more specific in that first sentence and qualified the adjective "experimental" in the context of pop, or else just referred specifically to indie rock there as I do elsewhere throughout my review. Sometimes I write too quickly, or re-order my paragraphs in a later draft.

I think it's an interesting debate, the extent to which Spoon is heard to be tinkering with their genre. If you feel there are bands from another genre that Austinist has overlooked, by all means please send them along.

Clifford

I shouldn't really have any dogs in this one, but I will say that I agree with Nick and Josh's comments that equating a solid third-tier rock band with musicians and composers who are process-oriented or whose music falls between the cracks of rock, pop, jazz and classical music is a disservice to all concerned.

Austin does have a number of significant artists whose work is beyond category, and at the Austinist there is an effort ongoing to promote their work. Of course, experimental/avant-garde musicians and composers have to do their part, too, by sending press releases and advance notice to the music editor.

We're well aware that Austin is no longer a town in which there are two kinds of music ("Country & Western" as the old joke goes). We are a city with diverse communities of artists whose practices may be complementary or even antagonistic. But that's part of what makes Austin an interesting place to live. And I think that it's getting better, not worse, for art music and the otherwise unclassifiable. As the middle of the road becomes wider, the edges become more sharply defined and closely-knit. The scenes do get publicity, and Austin is an increasingly notable stop-off point for touring outsider acts. Being on the outside is never easy, but promoting this work in Austin isn't as dire as some have made it out to be.

nhennies

"Experimental with the pop song" (and it's debatable if Spoon even does that) is not "experimental music" which is what this review is claiming. The idea that Spoon ever "made experimental music palatable" is absurd.

I don't know why Spoon seems to get a free pass with all the press in town, but it's frustrating to see a band that's already so successful being met with such un-critical reviews while Rachael Sawyer seemed intent on nitpicking and tearing down struggling local artists like Sunset and former-Austinite Mark David Ashworth, both of whom made incredibly well-crafted, unique albums this year.

Way to support local music.

Late Checkout

My band writes songs using the sounds of bbq sauce boiling in the microwave, pregnancy test applicators dropping on the sidewalk, and the mating sounds of caterpillars. Is that experimental enough for you?

I still realize Spoon does experiment with the tightly crafted pop song.

joshronsen

Please explain how Spoon in any way can be said to make "experimental music." That is an insult to all the musicians in Austin (and elsewhere) who do make music that is experimental in nature. See Austinnitus for a partial list of experimental musicians in Texas. There are dozens of free .mp3 downloads showing the wide variety of local experimental music.

gadabout

agree with bubbasmith. as for transference: me likey! me likey alot!!

bubbasmith

In what galaxy was Spoon ever "experimental"?

William

Seriously? The new Spoon album must grow on you. It hasn't seemed at all "huge" to me.

I think fun. has put out the best album so far this year.