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Figured it was time to have an all-encompassing thread for what I believe is the greatest American rock band of the last 30 years. Particularly on a Texas message board. 

I've been diving into their last 3 albums (They Want My Soul, Hot Thoughts, Lucifer on the Sofa) recently and realized the band is better than ever. IMO their current lineup is their best, the production is impeccable, and the songwriting keeps getting more interesting. 

Anyways, some videos. 

All of their KEXP performances are great. 

 

Love watching the current lineup casually crush "Fitted Shirt". 

 

1 hour ago, Hank Kingsley said:

 

I've been diving into their last 3 albums (They Want My Soul, Hot Thoughts, Lucifer on the Sofa) recently and realized the band is better than ever. IMO their current lineup is their best, the production is impeccable, and the songwriting keeps getting more interesting. 

 

Totally agree

I've found it so interesting how they've sort of lurked at gold record status for a couple of decades now, with absolutely impeccable critical reception, yet they often seem to be touring as support for far lesser bands, playing the dinner slot at festivals, etc.  They're definitely not hurting for money, but man they should be so much bigger.

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3 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I've found it so interesting how they've sort of lurked at gold record status for a couple of decades now, with absolutely impeccable critical reception, yet they often seem to be touring as support for far lesser bands, playing the dinner slot at festivals, etc.  They're definitely not hurting for money, but man they should be so much bigger.

I'm convinced there are two things that kept them from making it big. 1. The band name Spoon. It just kinda sucks. 2. Britt Daniel is not classically handsome in a post-MTV world. 

Send them in a time machine to the 70s and they would have been huge. 

 

1 minute ago, Hank Kingsley said:

I'm convinced there are two things that kept them from making it big. 1. The band name Spoon. It just kinda sucks.

I asked Britt & Jim about the name once -- they claimed (perhaps in hindsight) it was a riff on "Can" and I believe "Wire".  Ultimately, I think a band name starts to disassociate from the meaning of the word.  I'm not sure many late-era REM and U2 fans understand the back stories. 

 

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I didn't listen to Transference very much due to the relatively poor reviews as I didn't want to be disappointed. I think people had lofty expectations after Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and Britt & Co. decided to throw a curveball with Transference. 

Listening to it now, I really like the album. This is a fucking jam. 

 

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Just now, jimmyjazz said:

I asked Britt & Jim about the name once -- they claimed (perhaps in hindsight) it was a riff on "Can" and I believe "Wire".  Ultimately, I think a band name starts to disassociate from the meaning of the word.  I'm not sure many late-era REM and U2 fans understand the back stories. 

 

I definitely agree with that, but I'd wager a lot of people didn't even give them a chance because of the name. 

People are stupid. My personal confession: when I first heard their band name, my brain associated it with 'Spoonman' by Soundgarden, and I lazily assumed it was a similar sound. 

 

2 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

People are stupid. My personal confession: when I first heard their band name, my brain associated it with 'Spoonman' by Soundgarden, and I lazily assumed it was a similar sound. 

. . . and they formed before that song was released.  (Not saying you were on the bandwagon right when they formed, I fully get how you could write them off.)

it's frustrating how infrequently they play headlining shows in austin. 

6 minutes ago, stc said:

it's frustrating how infrequently they play headlining shows in austin. 

Well, one of them lives in Rhode Island.

Pretty good interview compilation this thread reminded me of:  https://phawker.com/2019/08/14/excerpt-an-oral-history-of-spoon/

Kinda crazy that there wasn't already a Spoon thread?

Even crazier, I remember picking up "Girls Can Tell" while at Waterloo then setting it back down and buying...something else.  Because I could only afford to buy one record that day, I figured I'd buy a sure thing rather than what I perceived as a local band surrounded by a fawning local press.  That record:   I have no recollection.  I should've bought Girls Can Tell then.  I didn't really get into Spoon until I saw them at ACLFest in 2003.  

8 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I've found it so interesting how they've sort of lurked at gold record status for a couple of decades now, with absolutely impeccable critical reception, yet they often seem to be touring as support for far lesser bands, playing the dinner slot at festivals, etc.  They're definitely not hurting for money, but man they should be so much bigger

Take it back 10 years, and I’d put their body of work up against any other American band over the past 30 years.

I wonder if they would have been able to maintain such a consistently creative output if they had broken through. The ‘critically acclaimed but under appreciated’ niche has been really good to them. 

Count me in the group that thinks Lucifer, Hot Thoughts and They Want My Soul represent their best work. 
 

As an aside, Ga x 5 came out my freshman year at UT. Impossible to understate how that album was just playing fucking everywhere in Austin that year. 

8 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

What would you have added? Tell us a story JJ!

Two linked Tascam DA-88 digital tape decks, two Mackie 1604 boards, lots of basic microphones (multiple Shure SM57, AKG D112, Shure stereo overhead), Jim Eno in Britt's living room, the rest of the band spread around his house.  My first "real" gig.  Honestly, it turned out pretty good, although the mix is kinda thin.  Mackie boards and basic Lexicon reverbs will only get you so far; plus, I had no idea how to use a compressor.  Britt and I did overdubs (mostly vocal and guitar) and the mix in my living room.  Very low budget affair.

No infighting in the band that I recall . . . yet.

Well, they got a whole lot better over time.  So did I, but I never did any released work for them again.  I did eventually build a real studio and they would sometimes do demo work there, but by that time they were total pros who knew exactly what they wanted and I basically just made coffee and twisted the occasional knob.  Not long after that, Jim built his own place that became Public HiFi (now located in his home state of Rhode Island), and they were fully self-sufficient.

20 hours ago, Hank Kingsley said:

I'm convinced there are two things that kept them from making it big. 1. The band name Spoon. It just kinda sucks. 2. Britt Daniel is not classically handsome in a post-MTV world. 

Send them in a time machine to the 70s and they would have been huge. 

 

i think a third is that they are not easy to define. There is no formula. One song to the next is so varied.

This is not a criticism (but i do think it limits mass appeal - which i am guessing they can live with)

 

it's funny. They are exact contemporaries of Wilco which might be interesting to compare and contrast.

8 minutes ago, yoladu said:

it's funny. They are exact contemporaries of Wilco which might be interesting to compare and contrast.

I'm not sure if this is still true, but they shared the same manager for a while.

my introduction to them was seeing britt play solo shows at beerland on weeknights during the early 00's. not a huge fan of anything before girls can tell, but everything after that is solid. though i'm less partial to the synth heavy hot thoughts. 

Edited by stc

Favorite tune?  I'm torn between many, but the two that come to mind are

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

 

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12 hours ago, destroya said:

Take it back 10 years, and I’d put their body of work up against any other American band over the past 30 years.

That's the way I used to feel too. But after listening to all their discography again, I think I made the mistake of feeling nostalgia for older stuff. 

I still love Series of Sneaks, Girls Can Tell, Kill the Moonlight, Gimme Fiction, and Ga X5. Lots of great memories associated with all those records. Getting older, becoming a father, etc., I didn't pay enough attention to their last 3 records. Now that I've done a deep dive, I realize how huge the addition of Alex Fischel has been for the band. They did Divine Fits together, and I'm pretty sure Britt has welcomed Alex to the songwriting process for the band. It has opened up their sound so much. More groove, more urgency (how is that even possible, lol) and the arrangements are fantastic. Big fan of Gerardo Larios as well, his understated guitar work is excellent. 

A couple of live highlights with Alex: 

This performance of Knock Knock Knock blows away the album version: 

 

A huge addition on keys as well: 

 

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6 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Favorite tune?  I'm torn between many, but the two that come to mind are

  Reveal hidden contents

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Can't argue with either of those. Both incredible. 

I think I'd need to make a Top 10-20 list to gather all the songs that I could consider my favorite. 

this one's definitely in my top 5. 

 

 

A friend of mine's husband is in the band now. Great guy. That's all I've got. 

I grow to love this band more and more each passing year. Their career is fucking remarkable. The thing that's most impressive to me is that they've been doing this for almost 30 years now, and they continue to put out fantastic new records that don't feel like they're trying to recreate what has been previously successful, but instead feel like an organic evolution of their own unique sound. Seriously, how many bands that have been around for 30 years put out a record as good as Lucifer on the Sofa? And they haven't released a single stinker. Some are better than others, but nothing they've ever put out is bad. There's no fucking Spaghetti Incident here. So impressive. 

Anyway, here's my favorite song by them:

 

Wild this hasn't been a dedicated thread yet.

For the lack of tour mention, I believe they're coming to Austin this year with The Pixies over the summer. Moody Amphitheater if you're in the mood to melt.

We had tickets for them a couple years back for a New Years show at ACL Moody, which was cancelled. Very bummed. We may check out the above show, heat be damned. Wish they'd play at the other other (other?) Moody Center. But alas.

13 minutes ago, gofuckyourself said:

We had tickets for them a couple years back for a New Years show at ACL Moody, which was cancelled.

i had tickets for that as well. they never rescheduled and still haven't played a headlining show in austin since lucifer on the sofa was released. 

1 hour ago, stc said:

i had tickets for that as well. they never rescheduled and still haven't played a headlining show in austin since lucifer on the sofa was released. 

The only exception I would add, which is picking nits, was that they did do an Austin City Limits taping on that album.  I managed to wrangle tickets, and I'm glad I did, the band was great.

I’ll admit that I’ve never really listened to Spoon. They’ve always seemed a bit boring to me. I know their major singles and that’s about it.

I just listened to a few albums and my initial impression is that they are an American imitation of Brit Pop. Dunno if anyone who’s been a fan for their entire run hears that.

Great thread that brings back a lot of memories. I probably listened to Spoon more than anything else circa 2002-2005. I had an old girlfriend that was a massive fan too and we'd go see them all the time at a place on 6th that had a smallish venue upstairs - 311? Mercury Lounge? I can't remember, but it was a great place to see a show that seemed waaaay too small for a band as good as Spoon. I can close my eyes with this song playing and still see Britt nailing the vocals ~10 feet from me.

 

I haven't listened to them much in a few years. It sounds like I need to give their newer albums some spins.

22 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

I just listened to a few albums and my initial impression is that they are an American imitation of Brit Pop. Dunno if anyone who’s been a fan for their entire run hears that.

I don't know about "Brit pop", but Britt has an encyclopedic knowledge of classic rock, and seems especially fond of The Kinks, among others, including the usuals (The Stones, The Beatles, etc.).

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Yes. The Kinks, John Lennon, Elvis Costello, etc. 

EDIT: Speaking of John Lennon...

 

Edited by Hank Kingsley

1 hour ago, The Royal We said:

I had an old girlfriend that was a massive fan too and we'd go see them all the time at a place on 6th that had a smallish venue upstairs

Pretty sure that's the old Parish. I think it was called Mercury at Jazz for a bit. Definitely saw them there a few times. 

I'm a huge fan though not sure I'm ready to call them the best American band of the last 30 years. I would put them behind Wilco at least.

Saw them back in March at the small music festival in San Antonio. Band of Horses played right before them -- it was a great back-to-back but Spoon absolutely blew BoH out of the water. So crisp and wonderful. It was a sharp contrast to the last time we saw them when they played the second show at Tannahill's in Fort Worth. They played for like an hour, walked off the stage and didn't come back. That night was a shit show logistically so maybe they got annoyed with the venue (it is owned by notable douchebag Tim Love).

I almost feel like they don't tour nearly enough these days, at least not in Texas.

As far as the present lineup, my wife and I loved the guy who plays guitar and keyboards. That dude gets into it!

As far as their newer stuff goes, I really, really like this song:

 

@jimmyjazz may be the only Surlster who can claim earlier Spoon fanhood than me, although plenty of yall are probably deeper, more current fans. (I lost track of them years ago).

I first heard Spoon on the KNACK Homegroan, Vol. III CD in 1995. “Dismember” was on that record, and also got a lot of radio play around that time. We played that CD nonstop that year. 

We saw Spoon once or twice in local shows. The one I recall specifically had them opening for Gal’s Panic at Electric Lounge. 

Anyway, I bought Telephono when it released in 1996 and played the grooves off of it. As a EE major, I was tickled by the Smith chart printed on the disc. It’s an unpopular opinion, but that’s still my favorite Spoon album. It’s a rare “listen to the whole thing, front to back” record for me. 

Anyway, we plan to see them open for Pixies in September. Telephono is basically a Pixies album, so maybe they’ll play some of the old stuff. 

Edited by BrickHorn

5 hours ago, stc said:

i had tickets for that as well. they never rescheduled and still haven't played a headlining show in austin since lucifer on the sofa was released. 

They played ACL live in October ‘22. Also, Longhorn City Limits before Georgia game but that doesn’t really count. 

  • 3 months later...

I know they did some recording in LA earlier this year, but those studio shots look like Jim Eno's new place in Rhode Island.  I'll be curious to see how this was all put together.

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