[rating=4.00]
Britt Daniel has got to hate Ezra Koening, after all the Spoon front-man has been sweating it out since 1993 and still hasn’t received close to the quick rise that Vampire Weekend or any other pitchfork come lately have enjoyed. But if there is any band that has gotten away with catchy hooks without having to fall prey to a pop culture demographic, it’s definitely Spoon. Even with an upcoming Radio City Music Hall sellout, the Austin rockers remain one of the last great rock band that still fly under the radar.
“Spoon Cool” is back on Transference but avoids any mainstream nods that their past two records (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Gimme Fiction) rubbed towards: there are no “Cherry Bombs,” “Underdogs” or “I Turn My Camera Ons.” Instead the sly toe-tapping Girls Can Tell mojo dominates here on “Is Love Forever” and “The Mystery Zone,” giving way to the "Spoon Cool" of earlier records.
Transference remains a grower with its brooding underbelly, but once you get it, you’re thankful for the not-so obvious pop nods. The one catchy exception is “Written In Reverse,” where the ker-plunky piano and crashing drums make for another silent classic. With Transference Spoon is further cementing their status as cult survivor rather than a pop/blog flash in the pan, thanks to their intense consistency of selling out to their fan-base, not the mainstream.
