THE BREAKDOWN (W/ DJ SUB PAR): Spoon - Transference

Band: Spoon

Album: Transference

Sounds Like: Ted Leo, Cold War Kids, White Rabbits, The Walkmen

Sub Sub Genre: Minimalist Rock

Essential Tracks: Got Nuffin, Goodnight Laura, Who Makes Your Money?

DJ Sub Par: Britt Daniels and Co are unflappable. Apparently they don't know how to make a bad album. Sure, their first single, "The Mystery Zone" might have them going back to the Spoon book of tricks with a minimalist grove, but elsewhere they have eschewed the studio gloss of their previous outing (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga) for disoriented tracks, where the vocals might cut out sudden. The Ballad "Goodnight Laura" feels like a tape recorder has caught Britt taping out a song on the piano for the first time - a rough beauty.

DJ Responsible: As DJ Sub Par alluded, the production is a little all over the place. It's hard to imagine that the shimmering "The Mystery Zone" and the shiny "Is Love Forever?"--a.k.a. Spoon performing atop American Gladiators' Assault, can you hear the tennis ball gun?-- are only a stones throw removed from the grungy (and mediocre) "Trouble Comes Running." However, as trustworthy as the well-worn silver spoon in your morning granola, it all just sort of coheres.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention "Who Makes Your Money?," the best thing they've done since Gimme Fiction (so, not that long I guess). It's got the spine of a Spoon song, but all twisted and spaced-out and warped. If the rest of the album would've felt a little more like this, the memories may have reverberated even deeper.

Got Nuffin - Spoon

Who Makes Your Money - Spoon