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Spoon takes ‘My Soul’

Count me as one of those who was surprised to hear ho-hum responses when Austin, Texas, band Spoon released its seventh album Transference in 2010.

Coming three years after the successful Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Spoon made a left turn, crafting its most difficult album to date. Transference is a band sounding like it’s being pulled apart at the seams, as if lead singer/guitarist Britt Daniel and drummer/producer Jim Eno were bored with indie rock, a genre term that’s been meaningless for two decades now.

While some responded with a simple “meh,” I kept hearing more and more layers of brilliance—the unexpected denouement of “I Saw the Light,” the lonerism of “Out Go the Lights,” and the fool-proof, chug-a-chug rock of “Got Nuffin.”

Maybe it wasn’t the band that went bad, but the audience was spoiled by the year’s releases, shoving one of modern rock ‘n’ rolls most consistent bands off to the side for flavors of the week like Titus Andronicus, Ariel Pink and Sleigh Bells as well as overhyped acts like Drake, Vampire Weekend, Joanna Newsom, Sufjan Stevens and The Black Keys.

Call me in a decade and tell me if you remember any of the songs from Newsom’s Have One on Me or Stevens’ The Age of Adz.

After a four-year break, Spoon has returned with another winning album, They Want My Soul, doing what the band has always done, making no-frills, grooving tracks. It doesn’t match the brilliance of Transference, but this is an entirely different band now.

In the time between 2010 and 2014, Eno has produced countless albums, including the overwhelmingly good Arrow by Heartless Bastards. Daniel formed Divine Fits with Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs, and the band released an overlooked album and EP. In that time, it sounds like the members of Spoon realized they’re best when they’re together.

While Divine Fits created an interesting palette for Daniel to talk trash, Spoon’s backgrounds sound even better, interjecting just enough so as not to interrupt the 43-year-old as he yelps about the “educated folk singers” who want his soul and the young girl who had so much taste she “walked out of Garden State.” After the time off, the band sounds like it has realized that while studio tinkering is its strength, Daniel’s delivery is another weapon that hasn’t been used to its potential until now.

They Take My Soul isn’t without its clunkers. The second half falters with “Outlier,” “I Just Don’t Understand,” and the underwhelming closer “New York Kiss.” However, the rest of the album is the sound of the band I want to hear constantly—a smart, energetic band that defies categorization and writes damn good tunes.

Live picks

Local rock band Teen Hustle performs at Red Star Friday with rockin’ realtor James Fogle opening. Teen Hustle released a new album, Radio Spies, earlier this year. Take a listen. The show starts at 9 p.m.

Surf rockers Rondo Hatton bring the jams to Red Star Saturday at 7 p.m. The local act has a new album Destination… Fun!! out now.

The funk band 99000 A.D. performs at Chelsea’s Café with country rockers Elsah Saturday at 10:30 p.m.

Song of the week

Cymbals Eat Guitars’ “Warning”

After a couple of ambitious, sprawling releases, alternative rock band Cymbals Eat Guitars is returning with perhaps its tightest, most concise album yet. This first single from the forthcoming LOSE, out Aug. 26, is the sound of a band that has learned its hearty bursts sound best when they are tight three-minute blasts.

Albums of the week

Prom Date’s Portraits

The Baton Rouge/NOLA dance pop sextet released its debut full-length Tuesday, and it’s full of ’80s-era pop hooks. The band has traded the majority of its guitar lines for keyboards and synths—a transformation audiences have no doubt seen over the past three years. As the band has grown into its sound, the songs have matured as well, fitting comfortably into a epic dance music niche alongside albums like David Bowie’s soundtrack for the film Labyrinth and bands such as Electric Six, The Killers and Wild Beasts. The band will celebrate the release of Portraits Friday at Spanish Moon. RSVP and get more information.

Listen to Portraits below:

Portraits by Prom Date

Jason Martin’s Welcome Home

Local rock is underrated, especially in a town where we celebrate a cover band releasing an album (What’s going to even be on that album? Covers? Get real.). Jason Martin is one guitarist/singer-songwriter crowds should keep their eyes on. He’s got chops and licks to spare, and his Southern-fried rock ‘n’ roll is on full display in this new EP. Welcome Home features six tunes, recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, and Raleigh, North Carolina. Martin will celebrate the release of Welcome Home Saturday at Spanish Moon. RSVP and get more information.

Listen to Welcome Home below: