Groove Evolution: Spoon's Transference

Spoon
Transference
(January 18, 2010 – Merge)

Somewhere in the Bible, God said He’d rather we be hot or cold. The lukewarm, He cautioned, would meet the indignant fate of being “spewed” from His mouth. Bad visual, but luckily we’re no longer in “Bible Times.”

Spoon’s new album Transference is an object lesson in the benefits of being lukewarm. In the tepid ground between hot funk and cool rock lies the groove. And it’s the groove that Spoon reinvents on these eleven tracks. The downside is that you won’t get “yr cherry bomb” or “camera on” this time around. But the upside is a masterful balancing act.

Gilding the groove are attractive tonal textures, including (but not limited to) chalky lead vocals, flush harmonies, reversed instrumental tracks, strings, and wowee-zowee space-organ. Jarring edits occasionally cut off the vocals mid-note. And at least once, the entire tail end of a song gets docked. Little tricks to keep us alert, lest a groove coma -- a yummy groove coma -- ensues.

“Before Destruction” opens the album with a spare rhythm concocted of hi hat, floor tom, and acoustic guitar strapped together with organ and swirling vocals. A perfect example of not burying the lead, and a great argument for why you shouldn’t.

The most blatant groove comes three songs later with “Who Makes Your Money?” It leans trippy with delayed organ hits, volume pedal guitar swells, falsetto, and an excellent opening lyric guaranteed to be misheard by the millions. (For the record, I’m pretty sure that Britt Daniel is singing, “Jack Benny’s drawn his slight face first…” or is it “his sly face-fur?”)

“Trouble Comes Running” makes a play for the obvious pure pop hit. But it also makes production waves, as the ultra-low-fi treatment is applied, obliterating any hope of pure pop acceptance. I mean, virtually the entire trap kit is panned left! I love it when bands pull this shit!

Whether accidental or by design, Transference subtly melds funk and rock (two elements that ordinarily should be kept far, far apart) into a sturdy new brand of groove music (a genre that typically smacks of laziness). In fact you may feel quite lazy, yourself, after your first listen. But keep at it, because just like studying the Bible, you discover something new every time.

JH