the new Spoon album rocks

they don't feel compelled to come up with a "new" sound or to reinvent themselves. Its more like they just explore a new room in the house they already live in...and it sounds really good.

ga ga ga ga ga ga.


(seriously that's the title of the cd. how cool?)

they come up with such a rich texture working with a rather limited palette. Brit Daniels raspy voice has little range and the guitars seem to stay in familiar territory yet at moments it sounds plush.

kind of like eating a very simple bistro meal that tastes perfect in its simplicity.

there's some really cool piano and horns on a few of the tracks. Puncturing their normal minimalist instrumentation are some flourishes of exuberance: hand claps, mariachi rhythms, tambourines, or trippy/dancey keyboard riffs.

I don't want to summarize them by saying that they sound like Wilco because the don't exactly. They do however seem to fill a similar spot in my musical soul. to me thats a good thing.

theres a certain quality to the way the album unfolds that reveals new things with each listen. Its like buying a new shirt and then realizing a month later that there's some really cool stitching on the cuff. Not a,"hey look at me" but something hiding in plain site.