Perennial All Tomorrow’s Parties favourites Spoon return with their latest collection of Texas-fired indie rock nuggets, the curiously titled ‘Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga’. Despite the relative US commercial success of 2005’s ‘Gimme Fiction’, the band remain relatively unknown on these shores some 11 years since their first release. While perhaps not surprising given the glut of British indie rock bands, it is a mite frustrating seeing as their approach is generally considerably better than a lot of the MOR home-grown fare.
If you’ve heard one Spoon album, you’ve pretty much heard them all. That is not to say they are without invention, but they have generally stuck to straightforward melody-driven indie – most notably on ‘Gimme Fiction’. Despite the familiar sound of 4/4 guitar music, though, Britt Daniel and co have managed to create a musical identity that is very much their own and their songs are instantly recognisable. In that sense, ‘Ga Ga…’ sticks to the Spoon formula, but at the same time finds them fiddling about with it just a little.
After the stripped down ‘Don’t Make Me A Target’ that gets the album off to a bluesy start, the most startling moment of the album hits you like the keyboard player from Sparks has just slapped you round the face. ‘The Ghost Of You Lingers’ has a staccato piano rhythm reminiscent of one of Ron Mael’s, and the intermittent otherworldly vocals and noises that come simultaneously through both channels are just as spooky as the man himself. Along with the cocaine-referencing ‘My Little Japanese Cigarette Case’, ‘The Ghost Of You Lingers’ proves that Spoon are not quite that straightforward.
In fact it becomes apparent that there has been some sort of shift in the last two years. ‘Eddie’s Ragga’ and ‘Rhthm and Soul’ are pared down numbers similar to the opening track and prove that Spoon are not desperate to cash in on any perceived commercialism present on ‘Gimme Fiction’. Even the poppy ‘Finer Feeling’ sounds more reserved than it might have on previous albums, and Daniel states on that song: “Sometimes I think I’ll find a love, the one that’s gonna change my heart. I find it in commercial appeal, and then this heart it could get chased away”, perhaps revealing the reason for this restrained approach…
Complete with a Motown backing track and hand claps ‘You Got Yr Cherry Bomb’ is one of a couple of 60s pop-infused numbers that prove that there is still a bigger sound to Spoon, albeit more sporadically than usual. The glorious romp that is ‘The Underdog’ continues the flirtation with that decade thanks its lively brass and more handclaps, while the busy album closer ‘Black Like Me’ is a fine way to end things.
‘Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga’ is, like pretty much every other Spoon release, an immensely enjoyable album, and one that is difficult not to be wooed by. For those not familiar with Spoon’s work, this is as good a place to start as any. It is certainly more stripped down that possibly would have been expected but in the end this just proves that Britt Daniel’s song writing talents are as on form as ever.
First published on rockfeedback.com. See it here.
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