QUICK SPINS: Spoon, The Hot Rats
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 12, 2010 9:20PM
In which we take a quick look at a few recent musical releases.
Spoon sort of sprung Transference on the people without too much fanfare. Expectations were high but the band was careful to keep a relatively low profile up through its release, and this behavior is fitting given the album's overall vibe. In some ways the new disc is a departure from the overtly poppy direction Spoon has taken in recent years; the hooks are still there, but they're more muted and buried within the groove. This approach results in an album that is meditative upon first listen, and that feels slightly unfinished and claustrophobic. Further listens reveal deeper layers though, and the song began to adopt an emotional resonance their catchier tunes have never had. by the end you're convinced that what at first sounded like an album recorded slapdash and on the sly is in fact one of the truest and most affecting collection of songs in the band's career.
The Hotrats
Turn Ons
We're not exactly sure WHY Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey of Supergrass teamed up with Nigel Godrich (arguably best known for production work with Radiohead and beck) to form a cover band named The Hotrats but goddamn if we aren't glad they did! On Turn Ons Coombes and Goffey allow their inner bad-boys, largely dormant since their I Should Coco days, to run rampant over a collection of tunes both dusty and (relatively) new.
We admit fearing Godrich's involvement might overly polish the band's delivery but instead this venture offers him a respite from knob-twiddling in favor of happily helping to bashing out this scrappy collection. Whether it be dashing out a brit-pop garage rock version of The Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)," turning The Doors' "The Crystal Ship" into an explosion of power chords or turning the Cures' "Lovcats" into a fuzz-bassed mod freak-out the one unifying thread is the band's fast and loose approach to injecting each and every song with an unexpected dose of life.