Bringing About The Apocalypse Is Not Considered Cool

Spoon @ Webster Hall 6/8/2005
The Beast and Dragon, Adored / The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine / Someone Something / Lines in the Suit / Sister Jack / The Delicate Place / The Fitted Shirt / Anything You Want / Back to the Life / Paper Tiger / Small Stakes / Everything Hits At Once / I Turn My Camera On / I Summon You / The Infinite Pet / The Way We Get By / Me and the Bean / My Mathematical Mind // Metal Detektor / Take A Walk / Jonathon Fisk

Spoon “My Mathematical Mind (Live @ Austin 1/9/2005)” – I’ve been trying to figure out what I like so much about Spoon, or even just find a way to reduce my thoughts down to a pithy line or two that scratches the surface, and the one adjective that I keep coming back to is “classy.” And oh my God, I don’t even really know what that is supposed to mean, other than that it implies impeccable taste and timeless elegance, both of which certainly apply to the band since Girls Can Tell. I often wish that there was a band that felt like Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out” all of the time, and I’m beginning to realize that Spoon come rather close to that ideal, but with added elements of Motown, Squeeze, The Clash, and late period Beatles. Some musicians may make a play at sophistication and meticulous craft, but Spoon achieve that end without seeming as though they are expending a great deal of effort in pursuit of their goals. The band are obvious perfectionists, but the art itself is seamlessly constructed and concerned mainly with evoking an emotional response and an immediate physical reaction.

The band was in top form last night, playing from a perfectly selected setlist that emphasized the best material (barring maybe three or four songs) from their past three albums with a focus and intensity that matched, and in some cases surpassed, the studio performances. It’s fairly common for rock bands to improve on their material in a live setting, but it is particularly impressive that Spoon can do this given that their self-produced albums are (with the possible exception of some Steve Albini productions) the best sounding rock records being made in the world today. The urgency and soul of those recordings is no fluke; the band clearly track most of the music on the albums live in the studio. For some reason, I had convinced myself that the crisp, visceral sound of the percussion on the albums was the result of clever studio micing (and yeah, it kinda is), but it translated perfectly live, in part due to some more intelligent mic placement, but mostly because of the raw talent of Jim Eno.

“My Mathematical Mind” was a highlight of the show, and is arguably the best song from the new album. The song is built around a portentous groove anchored by a tense piano figure. At some moments, the song seems to flirt with the notion of release, but the band never give in to the impulse, instead letting the song continue to escalate until it eventually collapses into itself. (Click here to buy this live recording on a charity album benefiting tsunami victims, and here to buy the studio version.)

Elsewhere: Here’s an excellent review of Gimme Fiction by Jessica Hopper.