Spoon
Love Ways EP
[Merge]
Rating: 7.9
It was once said of Picasso that he could draw a single line and everyone
who saw it would know immediately that it was Picasso who drew it. Now,
don't think I'm going to be so gauche as to compare Spoon to Picasso
directly, but hear me out here: you can hear a simple, forceful drumbeat,
a barked syllable, a quick strum of the guitar, or the crackling note of
a dying keyboard, and immediately identify it as a sound created by Spoon.
That's why they're such a great band-- they have the ability to stamp
their indelible signature on the most atomic components of rock 'n' roll.
Of course, not everyone shares my pro-Spoon sentiment-- take Elektra
Records, the label that half-released A Series of Sneaks in 1998,
shortly before unceremoniously dropping the band from their roster. For
nearly two years now, the band has floated around without a label,
releasing only two singles and a compilation track in that time. But
finally, Merge Records came to their senses and hooked the band up with
a deal. Thus, we are graced by the presence of Love Ways, an EP
recorded after their long-awaited third full-length, Girls Can
Tell (which will be released early next year by Merge), but released
now as sort of a "hi, remember us?" statement. Although one gets the sense
that Spoon saved their best material for the full-length, Love Ways
showcases the band's evolving sound and songwriting skills quite well.
Spoon's best work in the past has hinged upon their apparent
deliberateness-- in the skeletal arrangements of the songs, in the placement
of decorative sounds, and of course, in the band's playing. In this sense,
Love Ways' looser vibe works both for and against it; it's proof that
Britt Daniel can write great, catchy songs even when he's casually tossing
them off, but it's also not quite as substantial as previous releases.
Still, there are at least two classic Spoon tracks to be found here: "Change
My Life," a spooky sigh of a song cut through with lightning bolts of
guitar clang, and "Jealousy," a deceptively sprightly tune with a
Beatles-esque bounce playing off a shimmery organ backdrop.
But even when they're not 100% on, Spoon can still polish the most
tarnished cliches to a reflective glimmer. "I Didn't Come Here to Die"
sports a pushy, twangy riff that hiccups just often enough that it
doesn't get too repetitive. On "The Figures of Art," Daniel's voice is
such that he can sing a cheap line like, "It's easier to eat a broken
stomach than drink on an empty heart," and still sound heartfelt.
Finally, there's "Chips and Dip," a doo-wop song without the actual
doo-wops; the track seems to exist solely so Britt can sing the words,
"Shuck and jive." Although if someone compiled a list of "Top 10 Words
or Phrases We've Always Wanted to Hear Britt Daniel Sing," I guarantee
"shuck and jive" would be on there somewhere.
I've tried to explain the greatness of Spoon to newcomers and nonbelievers,
without much success; it's just that they have the indescribable "it" that
99% of bands sorely lack. It's the way the molten-glass strands of guitar
shatter against Jim Eno's Ironman drumming, the way Daniel sings so
lackadaisically from the back of his throat, the genuinely odd sound loops
and warm, buzzy layers of organ. Love Ways may not completely deliver
on Spoon's "it," but it shows that they haven't lost it, and that's pretty
darn alright.
-Nick Mirov