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Spoon
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
"Spoon should be heralded for holding rock 'n' roll to a standard deserving of its heritage."
Rock 'n' roll necessitates consistency, that all members work together seamlessly and simultaneously independently. Yet, I sometimes feel rock 'n' roll is in its waning light. There are no Beatles, Led Zeppelin or Rolling Stones. In these times, rock 'n' roll music sits in an abyss of overabundance. With a seemingly endless number of bands and artists, record labels and the music industry evolving with the Internet, it becomes harder and harder to separate quality from quantity. But with Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Austin, Texas-based Spoon should be heralded for holding rock 'n' roll to a standard deserving of its heritage.
Spoon got its start when guitar player, singer and lyricist Brit Daniel and drummer Jim Eno rubbed elbows at a party in Austin in the early '90s. After a few independent releases, they were scooped up by Elektra records and dumped quickly after the 1998 release A Series of Sneaks, a wonderfully made post-punk rock 'n' roll album. Refusing to succumb to this setback, Spoon relentlessly created and evolved, eventually signed with independent label Merge Records, and steered clear of another major label signing.
The band's hard work and determination has paid off. From the release of A Series of Sneaks, Spoon has been met with widespread critical acclaim. The album Gimme Fiction, released in 2005, debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200. It is a testament to Spoon's continual evolution, its desire to evolve and refusal to stagnate.
I discovered "The Underdog," Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga's first single while sifting through stacks of new releases at Durango's KDUR studio and upon playing it was immediately hit by its rich arrangement. The song sounds familiar and at the same time unprecedented. A brass section accompanies the band, providing an uplifting element. The song's message reflects Daniel's struggles, his integrity and his striving to become a successful musician on his own terms. "But I hear the call of a lifetime ring/felt the need to get up for it/oh you cut out the middleman/get free from the middleman. You got no time for the messenger/got no regard for the thing that you don't understand/you got no fear of the underdog/that's why you will not survive!"
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga opens with "Don't Make Me a Target" on the jagged determination of Daniel's guitar. Eno's drums kick in along with Daniel's lyrics. The rhythm builds on piano player Eric Harvey's familiar minimal chord work. Daniel's lyrics, always clever and idiosyncratic, have a post-apocalyptic drawl. "Here comes the man from the stars/we don't know why he goes so far/and keep on marching along/ beatin' his drum. Thugs and stick and bats and balls/for nuclear dicks with dialect drawls/they come from a parking lot town/where nothing lives in the sun."
"Don't You Evah" opens up with Rob Pope's bass. A recent addition to Spoon, Pope, along with brother Ryan, was the driving force behind the Kansas City-based indie-punk band The Get Up Kids. Along with Eno's simple backbeat, Pope's melodic bass line remains the focus of the entire song. Daniel's lyrics circle around the breakup of a five-year relationship. "Don't you never think it's right/Bet you think you had to but it doesn't feel right. Bet you never think it feels right/Famous-sounding words make your head feel light. Petals getting picked/with the love-yous/and the love-you-not. Five years going by/Everyone is standing on their side." It is a beautifully crafted song and testament to the strength and diversity of Spoon's sound.
Each track on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga can stand alone; but heard together the album has a wonderful flow. Spoon provides a rock 'n' roll masterpiece on all fronts. I wish there were a few more tracks; the album's 10 songs run just more than 35 minutes, a work that sounds succinct throughout. Spoon plays in Austin, Texas, on Dec. 14, and in Denver on Dec. 15 at the beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheater.
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