What kind of spoon is Spoon? A long handled pot-stirrer used to thwap orphans in a fairytale? A dainty, functionless souvenir made to hang on a rack until it's pocketed by a klepto character in a Wes Anderson film? Is it a song by the German krautrock band Can? The battle cry of the Tick? Or is it a verb -- the famous coupling maneuver invented by silverware and perfected by humans?
For devoted fans of the 16-year-old band from Austin, these questions are immaterial. It is as if these people were born with some kind of automatic Spoon-appreciation device planted in their mouths. For me, it's been a bit trickier. I've struggled to figure out what Spoon's all about for years: the esoteric lyrics, the starkly minimalistic arrangements, the preppy gentility of frontman and chief songwriter Britt Daniel's persona... While interesting on paper, these perceptions always left me a bit cold. I never got the hype. (And I'm not alone; the band's fanbase is nowhere near that of contemporaries like Wilco or the late Pavement.)
The band's headlining spot in the Buzz Stole Christmas show at the Midland last night was the third time I'd seen Spoon. I don't know if it was the best of the three -- the one at KU's Day on the Hill in '06 had potential to be the best, though that show was lost to me because I had not yet made my peace with Spoon.
Last night, however, was my favorite Spoon show. Even though the band played barely an hour for a crowd that was slowly and quietly thinning, I enjoyed the hell out of it.
I finally decided to let Spoon be Spoon.
I made this decision to let go at a good time in the band's career. With longevity-establishing albums Girls Can Tell, Gimme Fiction and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga in the back catalog and an album coming out in January that -- judging by the three songs the band previewed last night -- is only going to add to the band's musical capital, Spoon's luster is only going to increase.
Of course, it helped that after the Bravery, ladelfuls of molten lead poured into my ear canals would've been soothing. I understand the appeal of the Bravery -- I really do. I think. Britt Daniel could learn a bit of charisma and showmanship from Sam Endicott, who, further to his credit, is backed by enthusiastic, talented and appealingly weird-looking sidemen. If Daniel, however, begins singing like Endicott -- with that affected, dipthong-addled Robert Smith knockoff croon -- and adding low-IQ synth riffs to every song, then either Spoon will either self-destruct or sell a million records.
For their part, the crowd seemed to love openers the Bravery, who in turn responded by gradually forgetting this was a high-paying, radio-sponsored show and cut loose toward the end. Bravery clearly knows how to compose a song: dynamic swells, repetitive and catchy pop structures and vaguely gothic emoting in the lyrics.
The problem is they aim for Echo & the Bunnymen, and because their melodic hooks are so weak and diluted, they hit EMF. The only musically compelling moment of the band's 9 to 10 p.m. set came when Endicott turned over lead vocals and switched instruments with bassist Mike Hindert, who played guitar and sang a slow, Berlin-ish ballad that had the Bravery sounding like a completely different band.
Earlier in the night, despite having a terribly mixed set, Metric (I missed the evening's first band, Hockey), showed how to write a melody. Looking like the band Number Six would start if she were a dirty hipster instead of a murderous cyborg, Emily Haines' Toronto-based band is, like the Bravery, heavily influenced by New Wave. But unlike Endicott and his boys, Emily and her men churn out monster grooves, memorable melodies and, live, at least, a passion for frenzied, electro-prog jamming. Metric is urgent, not preening.
The band seemed to stick mostly to its new album, Fantasies, though I say that only because I recognized a few songs off of it and did not hear "Monster Hospital," Metric's breakout hit from a few years ago.
At 10:20, the lights came down for the third time, and Spoon strode on, unflashy and casual -- more SXSW than Warped Tour. More Stereogum than AP. More 90.9 the Bridge than 96.5 the Buzz.
And herein lies the difference and the appeal: musicality. Spoon keeps it tight and minimal, setting up intentionally limited sonic parameters and then keeping whatever wildness emerges on a tight leash. The rhythmic palette is made of blocks of primary colors -- drumbeat, bassline, piano groove -- over which Daniel scribbles with his guitar and voice. Like early Elvis Costello, Daniel's approach to songwriting combines soulful sophistication and autistic bursts of absurdity and noise. His lyrics, like those of Costello, almost make sense.
That's not to say there's nothing to latch onto and ride with. Set opener "Don't You Evah" was a bopper. Had the band not sped through its Stonesy hit "I Turn My Camera On" with nearly punk speed, people might have danced. "Rhythm and Soul" and "I Summon You" got some good response, but this being a radio show, folks mainly seemed to be waiting for "The Underdog." And when the band played it, the people danced happily and then either left immediately or patiently and detachedly waited for the show to finish. After all, no one was going to throw another hit song or a rolled-up T-shirt to them, so what, really, was the point in getting all excited?
I mean, maybe I'm wrong. The Midland is sonically variegated, and from where I sat under the balcony, I could hear the band well, but the applause after each number seemed drastically muted. I didn't see much motion, either. Maybe people down front were going bananas even during new songs, such as the thudding "Got Nuffin'" with its "Jump Into the Fire" bassline or the three-guitar buzzsaw that is "Is Love Forever." From my vantage, with this crowd, Spoon did go over a bit more like Can.
I ate it up. You?
Set List
Don't You Evah
Don't Make Me a Target
I Turn My Camera On
Written in Reverse
Got Nuffin
Rhythm & Soul
The Beast and Dragon, Adored
Black Like Me
Is Love Forever
I Summon You
My Mathematical Mind
The Underdog
encore
The Way We Get By
You Got Yr Cherry Bomb
Showing 1-11 of 11
I was there. Thought the show was great and didn't see a lot of kids. Unless a kid to you people is mid 20's to mid 30's.
@Former Buzz Fan local radio station booking Spoon, Metric and Hockey to perform a show isn't alternative? I guess you will have to go hang with your best "alt" fans at the paramore show. I think this is the most alternative show they have put on in years.
@Marty: Thanks, man. I'm glad you chimed in, because I think Cowboy Indian Bear has a lot in common with Spoon in terms of those careful, precise instrumental arrangements and making use of space in songs, which I think is really cool. If only Spoon could nail those harmonies!
@Former Buzz Fan: Thank you, sir. Yeah, a lot of the kids seemed baffled last night. But don't get me wrong; I *used* to think Spoon was generic. I'm even on record saying they have "bland material." I take it all back. They are both wild and, as Marty puts it, restrained.
Great review, dude.
Your words summed up my feelings on Spoon perfectly. They're not a "bad band" just not pushing the envelope with their style. It's pretty generic overall. Is the buzz trying to market exclusively to 30-40-somethings now? I mean flock of seagulls at the halloween show and now an adult-contemporary line-up for the christmas concert? what has happened to "THE Alternative"? I'm awfully glad I can stream internet radio through my phone.
First off, Jason, I LOVE this review. You articulated some really interesting differences between all these bands and I think you pretty much nailed it.
I've seen Spoon three times in three different settings - Neck in '03, Granada in '05, Pitchfork in '06, all sold out crowds. I've spent a long time conflicted with how deliberately restrained Spoon's music is. It's something I've grown to appreciate but by the third time I saw them I was kinda burnt out. I think it's just seeing more than an hour of restraint and no freak-out that does me in.
With that said, I really wish I could have seen Metric. They exhibit a similar restraint in some of their past releases but the new one is pretty rockin'. Metric is one of few bands that makes my head crazy.
I played with them for about a year after Josh (keyboard player) left. Good times.
I really like Spoon and Metric. i can't really get used to Spoon as a four-piece live, even with a local boy on bass. I'm turned off to Buzz-sponsored shows after poor experiences at previous ones. So I didn't go; sounds like I didn't miss too much.
Yep. Shit, I'd kill to play with the Dap Kings, though. They were the highlight of that show in my opinion.
What was your previous band, Jeremy? I doubt you were a Dap King ... was it ... Kelpie?
My previous band was fortunate enough to get to play with Spoon at Day on the Hill '06. I'd heard some of their records before but never really understood the appeal. They put on a damn good show, though, and convinced me to take a second listen to their records. Glad I did, now I love 'em.
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