Seven albums in, Transference has made me fall in love with Spoon all over again. Spoon was an undeniable name in indie rock when I came on to the scene. I did my usual thing and picked up everything I could find. It was surprising me to me listening to the changes that the band went through over almost two decades of making music together. Kill the Moonlight (2002) and Gimmie Fiction (2005), two of my favorites, were both accessible enough to be fun to listen to by people who might have otherwise sloughed them off, and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007) hit it hard with an even stronger pop-influenced sound that was consistently a bite of musical goodness. I tend to gravitate to the mid-career albums. Spoon is funny, artsy, weird, experimental, yet surprisingly cohesive. Transference is such a very simple album at its core, made extremely smart by the interest that Britt Daniel can add to 3 simple chords. The sound comes out harsh sometimes, chunky at others, yet often smooth and homogeneous in ways that make me want to jam out and sing along. It’s this blend that makes me love Spoon, and makes me love this album.

I get the feeling that Spoon decided to take a bit of a stand on this album, making Transference less ready-made and more like the heart and soul of their days as true independent musicians. It’s risky, but it worked. The albums is full of gems.

Give it a listen. Buy it here @ Merge Records!

Spoon – Written in Reverse

Spoon – Got Nuffin