I’ve got the new Spoon album and if you think that sounds like I’m trying to one up you, you’re a fucking moron. The record’s been leaked to the internet for a couple weeks now, and if you havent bothered to grab it off a p2p network, don’t get snide and jealous when I talk about it.

Oh, I’m sorry, does that sound like it’s directed to someone? It might be. I find it hilarious when people paint me as an “insider” when really, I don’t even exist in the indie rock social strata. I just want to do what I want to do, regardless of what people think. I’m certainly not alone in that sentiment. A wise person reminded me fairly recently, even when you are anti-something you are still contributing to the system you are against. Regardless of what you hate, you’re still playing the game.

Anyway, the following is what I posted to a discussion list about their new record, Gimme Fiction. I wanted to write something new for here but I havent had the time, so I thought it would be appropriate to post it here. If anything’s confusing, I’ll be more than happy to clarify.

Gimme Fiction is fantastic. It’s worth the three year waiting period and every ounce of hype that will come its way. I havent listened to anything else in the last two weeks. I would have written sooner but I’ve been so busy that it took spraining my ankle to give me a free moment.

I almost wish it had appeared earlier so that I could include it in my column but I guess I’ll have to wait a little longer to praise it.

What surprises me the most about this record, is its ability to let time completely disappear with every listen. There I am, doing whatever it is I do and I’ll glance over at the stereo, only to find myself completely surprised that the records at the second to last track. But it doesn’t feel like time flew by so quickly. That’s what makes certain records so special; they give the listener the ability to get lost in the music. Lesser records force their ideas upon the listener, denying them an intimate dialogue.

Perhaps its in reaction to some of the criticism surrounding Kill the Moonlight, in which a lot of folks thought it was too all over the map, too reductionist, too whatever; this record attempts to challenge its listeners by creating something that’s quite cohesive yet avoids being tagged as sounding too similar. Each song is worthy on its own but can stand up next to all the others to create one solid body of work.

Spoon’s always been great at weaving a lot of disparate elements into something greater. While I think its sometimes cool to throw a lot of things together, layering one on top of another, like a Jackson Pollock painting, the general problem with this is once you go back, scrape through all the layers, you’ve hit the bottom and its usually a blank surface. Thanks to their unique knack for timing, Spoon avoids falling into soundscape territory, so that every sound is its own and the listener is never stuck staring a blank canvas.

The one thing I’m wondering about, is the track listing. I’ve heard some rumors flying around that there are a couple different track listings. And while I doubt all rumors primarily because the band & label’s website list the same one, it makes me think about the sequencing. “Beast and Dragon” sounds more like a summary of the album as it namechecks other songs in its lyrics. “Merchants of Soul” sounds more like something we’d hear mid-album. Does anyone else feel this way?

Also, any ideas on what the single will be? “Sister Jack” is the clear choice, if they feel like pandering to the masses. I really like the song but I think because its so so so radio friendly, I dislike it for that very reason — but it does have one of my favorite lines [”I was in a drop D metal band called Requiem” !!!!].

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 27th, 2005 at 9:55 pm and is filed under music.