GoGoIndieCritic :: Spoon :: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Since their move to Merge with 2001’s Girls Can Tell, Spoon has been pushing at their own boundaries like a painter who’s created a beautiful portrait but can’t help adding just one more brushstroke every time he passes the canvas, slightly changing the image without tarnishing its appeal. The Austin band’s sixth album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is perhaps the most successful of these attempts even though on a first listen, one prays for a return to the hooks of Gimme Fiction’s 'I Turn My Camera On' or even the recondite lyricism of 'The Beast and Dragon, Adored.' However, this album is the definition of a grower; the blue-eyed soul and roguish hooks sneaking up behind you when you least expect it.

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga manages to perfectly encapsulate exactly what Britt Daniel and Co. are all about as well. On the Jon Brion-produced pop gem 'The Underdog', horns blast over jangly acoustic guitar as Daniel kicks against the pricks, crooning, 'You got no fear of the underdog/ That’s why you will not survive.' Their compassion for the middle man striving against the comforting pressure to just be mediocre is again revisited on 'Finer Feelings' where Daniel sings, 'Sometimes I think that I'll find a love/ One that's gonna change my heart/ And I'll find it in Commercial Appeal/ And then this heartache'll get chased away.' Here, the liberal Memphis paper’s name holds an interesting if not immediately obvious double meaning, right before the song drops out and is replaced with untraceable crowd noise and filtered talkback.

This album also cements Britt Daniel as one of the finest frontmen in music today. His sleepy Elvis-Costello-by-way-of-Texas drawl creates an alienating yet alluring dynamic that fits the band perfectly.

4.5 of 5

Spoon The Ghost of You Lingers

Spoon Rhthm and Soul (Live)

Buy Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga here.