A single monumental release vs. a string of influential albums changes the way the past will view a band. Spoon’s 2007 album ‘Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga’ proved that Britt Daniels and crew have the chops and creativity to craft not single songs worthy of repeat listens, but whole albums equal in quality to most groups greatest hits. Those that have been listening for five years for more know that Spoon has a knack for knocking it out of the park with songs that could be the definition of American ‘Indie’ music. While there is reward for the wait Spoon also seems to have a knack for starving it’s fan between proper releases.(The lack of nourishment to a Spoon fan has to be especially trying after their last critically acclaimed album.) Spoon has spent the last two years riding the tidal wave that came after climbing the mountain of indie music for over 10 years, but a group can only take so many victory laps before the crowd exits and it’s time to prove themselves with another race.
With the quality of output that Spoon is used to delivering sometimes something is better than nothing, but the three (read two) song E.P. does little to comfort the fact that the band will reinvent themselves or catch lighting again. ‘Got Nuffin’ is less polished than ‘Ga’ and not in a more folksy way. The song for which the E.P. takes its name feels as though it should have circulated in Britt Daniels brain a few more times before hitting the airwaves. The second song on the E.P. ,’Tweakers’, is a 3:40 recording experiment consisting of lo fi drum beat and nothing. Instrumental work can be intriguing in more than one way, but for Spoon to include it on this E.P. felt like that space could have been filled with another great vocalized track. The most promising track of the E.P. comes at the end. ‘Stroke their Brains’ starts with slight reverb over quick guitar strokes before breaking into head twisting rhythm that Spoon is used to evoking. Britt Daniels vocals shine when they are on point singing “He’s mearly a creature/I feel like a creature/” in a tone that feels as though he’s more into it than on ‘Got Nuffin’.
Spoon sets the bar high not only for other groups but for itself as well. If there were only two options in the human spectrum of thoughts, win and lose, track by track this E.P. would come in at a loss. The best thing about the E.P. is the fact that Spoon is back in the studio recording new material that will hopefully see the light of day by the end of the year.

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