#4 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — Spoon
Lucifer On the Sofa by Spoon
After 30 years as a band, I can finally say Spoon is a Rock N’ Roll band with a capital N’. With nine albums of decidedly great indie rock under their belt, much of it classified as lowercase rock n’ roll, Spoon decided to crank their volume to 11 on Lucifer On the Sofa. Hit play on “Wild” above — listen to that heavy beat, those guitars and keyboards. You can just picture a dude in too-tight jeans strutting around a stage, playfully fondling a mic stand while twirling around the mic at the end of its tether. After that, put on “The Hardest Cut,” (fair warning: this is a rather disturbing music video — proceed with caution or just hit play and move the window off screen) and you can hear the band turning all the knobs to the right, giving the listener a visceral, guttural response that makes you bite your lower lip and thrust your hips.
Spoon, from Austin, Texas, have had two consistent members in their three decades: drummer Jim Eno, and principle songwriter and lead singer Britt Daniel. There have been 11 other guys that have slotted between those two in that span. The current lineup features keyboardist Alex Fischer (who was featured on their 2017 album Hot Thoughts — #7 in 2017), Gerardo Larios on backing guitar and vocals (joined in 2019), and Ben Trokan on bass, who only joined in 2021. It’s odd to think the band that recorded They Want My Soul back in 2014 (#3 that year) is out aside from Britt and Jim. It’s even more amazing when you consider how consistent the band has been in their 30 years. From their stellar debut, Telephono, in 1996 to now, every single one of Spoon’s album has been top notch.
So it’s all the more surprising to hear the band throw off the “indie” part of their sound and go full-on rawk. To commemorate their ascent to the top of Mt. Rock N’ Roll (not really, but go with me here), and prior to the release of Lucifer, the band released two Tom Petty covers they recorded in studio: “Breakdown” and “A Face in the Crowd.” Alex and Jim were masked up behind Britt because this was the height of the pandemic. Britt’s voice does some serious cracking, probably because he hasn’t been on a stage for a few years by this point. They also released a Bowie cover, “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” from Blackstar (#20 in 2016), to mark what would have been his 76th birthday in early January 2023.
All in all, Lucifer took most of the five years between it and Hot Thoughts to write and record. The band entered the pandemic in early 2020 with what they thought was a nearly completed album. And then Covid-19 changed things, as it did for everyone. Thankfully for us, it all changed for the even better. Check out the track “My Babe” for some less rocking, more traditional Spoon fare.
The band recorded some commentary for the three single they’ve released from the album: “My Babe behind the song,” “The Hardest Cut behind the song,” and “Wild behind the song.” All three videos show the trio – Britt, Jim, and Alex, giving us some insight into how the songs and the album came about. On top of that, the band collaborated with hit dub music producer Adrian Sherwood to release a track-by-track “reconstruction” of the album, called Lucifer on the Moon. And they released one video, for “On the Radio (Adrian Sherwood Reconstruction)” (funny enough).
In my review of Hot Thoughts in 2017, I started it by saying “Consistently good.” I might now add another adverb at the front of that statement, “Crazily, consistently good.” It truly is a wonder. Daniel and Eno (no relation to Brian or Roger) have proven themselves as master songwriters and performers. This past summer, the band went out with Interpol (#21 in 2014) on a double-headliner tour, and I got to see them play the Paramount here in Seattle. Unsure if it was like this at every stop, but in Seattle, Spoon opened for Interpol. It was a sweaty, bouncy, rocking affair — I exhausted my aging body and lost my voice, all before Interpol came on stage. And when they did, I nearly fell asleep. It was truly Interpol’s “night” to Spoon’s “day.” If you are a popular band, and are asked to co-headline a tour with Spoon, I think you should turn down the offer. You will not able to match the brilliance that is a Spoon show. On top of that, you‘d be hard-pressed to find any band who has been as good as Spoon has for so long. Pick up Lucifer, or any of their albums, and judge for yourself.
__________________________________________
5. Palomino by First Aid Kit
6. We've Been Going About This All Wrong by Sharon Van Etten
7. SOS by SZA
8. Wet Leg by Wet Leg
9. Chloë and the Next 20th Century by Father John Misty
10. Big Time by Angel Olsen
11. Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road
12. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To the Sky by Porridge Radio
13. I Walked with You a Ways by Plains
14. The Last Goodbye by Odesza
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs
There are many ways to listen to the 2022 Bacon Top 31. Subscribe now and enjoy the new albums / songs as they are revealed on the countdown!
Full Album
All albums in their entirety.
Radio Station
A single song selection pulled from each album.