Spoon - They Want My Soul (2014)

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No Friddmann.

They were just brilliant in London the other night. Only one new song played, as far as I recall.

buying tickets, so damn happy.

Reminds me I need to check out Girls Can Tell; the one album of theirs I haven't heard yet. The last one was a bit of mixed bag for me, so I'm cautiously optimistic about the new one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NOPfmfRVWmk

guh where did all the SPACE go?

they have added alex fischel from the divine fits on keyboards.

yeah i saw they're a 5-piece now. i was wondering what the deal was with that, but including a member of divine fits makes sense if that's what they're feelin' at the moment.

xps Girls is a personal fav + a big step forward for the band (that opening number is a STATEMENT if I've ever heard one), but it also shows them exploring new styles that would take several more albums to fully cohere (and some, like the dinosaur-rock strut of "Fitted Shirt", that they would abandon completely). I'm curious to hear what you make of it; I get the impression that a few of the tracks I originally found refreshing would seem kinda minor or half-baked compared to more recent efforts.

The new single doesn't really do anything for me. Hope there is better to come on the album.

yeah, sounds like recycled Spoon

initially felt the same way about "The Ghost of You Lingers"

this band is sitting on 6 consecutive records that i've really enjoyed so i'm excited about this as always. the last one was a slow grower so i'm not worried about first impressions really

Girls Can Tell is their best.

Girls Can Tell is their worst.

The first five songs are some of their best, the rest of the songs are some of their worst. They're still alright though.

Girls Can Tell is a great album but I've settled on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga being my favourite closely followed by Kill The Moonlight. Girls Can Tell would be either third or just behind A Series of Sneaks in fourth. They are an extremely consistent band though. Telephono is the closest they have to a dud but it still has its moments.

^ ditto, except i think Kill the Moonlight is my #1, just because of the sound of it. Ga is a better "rock" album but hews more closely, too, to the sound and feel of trad rock.

i always had a soft spot for "gimme fiction" but i haven't listened to this band since...probably the year transference was released

GF is my favorite.

i've listened to transference all the time since 2009, chances are not good that i'll be as down with the new one, but i'm hoping

ciderpress OTM

love the new song. i was thinking they might go into the more Divine Fits sound but they did not.

http://cdn4.pitchfork.com/news/55517/8a851f3a.jpg
They Want My Soul:

1. Rent I Pay
2. Inside Out
3. Rainy Taxi
4. Do You
5. Knock Knock Knock
6. Outlier
7. They Want My Soul
8. I Just Don't Understand
9. Let Me Be Mine
10. New York Kiss

just finished buying tickets, seeing them at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which is just bizarre to me.

This arrived in the post this morning.. Halfway through. Very direct, rocky, unmistakeably Spoon.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-McmDwzKCsXY/U6EtTot5iaI/AAAAAAAAApU/TX8olzsj-PA/w672-h504-no/spoonlive.jpg

Cover is very Kill The Moonlight.

http://spoon.kungfustore.com/they-want-my-soul/deluxe-they-want-my-soul-bundle.html

http://dgfpkz9520wnr.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Screen-Shot-2014-06-13-at-1.24.13-PM.png

This bundle includes:
- An instant download of the album track, ‘Rent I Pay’ upon checkout
- Limited Edition Translucent Blue They Want My Soul Vinyl LP
- They Want My Soul CD
- Lion T-shirt
- They Want My Soul Beach Ball
- Set of 8 Postcards
- Reproductions of They Want My Soul Handwritten Lyric Sheets.

The first 100 bundle orders will receive an autographed set.

think I still love sneaks best; utilitarian, car radio, advance cassette (and agony of laffitte if that counts) are all-time and the rest are swell

oh fantastic a beach ball

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-yAjwnz6aU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF9aY2nsfHE

that is the first time i have heard "Rainy Taxi" and it is classic Spoon. this album is going to be so good, they sound like they still have that spark.

I thought that Ticketfly photo was the (very cool) album cover.

no idea how i'll like the album, but i think those performances were tight as fuck.

well, i guess i expect i'll like it.

Now this is how a hiatus is supposed to work. Crank 'em out, hit maximum consistency/visibility, take a full break from the band to do something else, then return like you never left, only refreshed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZNyg6Qc_os

Much prefer this to Rent I Pay. Hope the album is more of this quality.

thanks for this, so looking forward to this album.

http://www.spoontheband.com/vinylgratification/#storefinder

A few weeks ago as we were figuring out how to roll out the new Spoon album I kept coming back to this: why do we incentivize people to buy our music from big outlets but we don’t extend the same courtesy to actual record stores? Case in point: why do we encourage listeners to buy early by offering “instant gratification” tracks for pre-orders of the digital album, yet there’s no special motivation for buying music from Waterloo or Reckless Records?? And there’s no incentive to buy the format that so many of those listeners prefer—an actual physical item they can hold and read and play on a turntable.

So today I’m pretty ecstatic to be able introduce Vinyl Gratification. It’s a program that encourages pre-ordering a vinyl copy of our new album They Want My Soul at independent record stores all over the US (and soon, internationally) by providing its own sort of instant gratification: a limited edition 10″ vinyl featuring three pre-release songs from the album that you can take home with you and put on your record player immediately. The great people at Record Store Day have generously offered to spread the word about the program and we’re launching with 150 stores on board, well beyond our wildest dreams.

The way it works is:

1. Starting July 15, find a participating record store near you by going to the store finder below.

2. Pre-order your copy of the album and hold on to your receipt as proof of purchase.

3. Take home your 10″ and listen on great-sounding 45RPM vinyl to three songs from the album before the album is released.

4. On or after August 5 when They Want My Soul comes out, bring your receipt back to the store where you pre-ordered, get your 180g white vinyl copy of the LP, take it home or to a friend’s house, and listen to your new album.

To rush this program into existence, we’re releasing the 10″ in a plain white sleeve, but we’ve cut no corners regarding the audio. We think the 45RPM 10″s sound unbelievable, and we’re pretty sure you will too.

If like me, you’ve ever rushed home with a brand new record that you couldn’t wait to play—and couldn’t actually play until you slapped it onto your turntable—I hope the Vinyl Gratification program will bring back some magic for you. And I hope you’ll join us in supporting the independent record shops that have supported us for so long.

Britt Daniel
Austin, TX

record store day creating a simple database of small, independent record stores is the best argument i've heard for its existence. at their height pearl jam would actually release stuff on vinyl a week before it came out in other formts so you'd have something like vitalogy debut at like #124 on the billboard chart and then shoot up to #1 in week "two". maybe the logistics for this would be difficult (though i don't see why they would have to be inherently so) but seems like independent labels, bands that care and have the power, etc could do a staggered rollout, similar to how art films etc were distributed. first week or two release hard product to independent record stores w/ code for mp3s from yr site. then chains and mp3 sites. then some duration later you release to streaming sites. you wouldn't cut yrself off from any market or audience but you'd have the type of ppl most likely to become regular record store customers funneled into indie stores.

Great idea. Too bad it all stops at the 49th parallel.

"Do You" is better but sounds like a less fussy New Pornos song.

so far i like "Rainy Taxi" best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd6aXM8WHGw

they have shared yet another song, this one with a strange video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpT5SBg1Mmk

Really love both the video and song.

fucking loving everything so far.

No one talks about Let Me Be Mine.
It's a great song and a reminder of the good old Spoon sound..

i would not call Spoon boring either especially after seeing them live this month. i like the National but the best boring band for me would be Okkervil River.

To me "boring" is the opposite of "compelling." Spoon are predictable and consistent--but they are almost always compelling. I couldn't imagine calling them boring. The National are boring.

ha you people it's called ARTISTRY, or if you wanna throw shade, CRAFTSMANSHIP. is there a songwriter who gets less credit for actually being good at being a songwriter than b daniel

Feel like they're basically today's Stereolab, and just need to get around to recording Dots & Loops to divide their audience a bit.

the actual thing that he doesn't get enough credit for is being an unbelievable vocalist.

truth

transference is especially good for that, fewer places to let the band cover him up

yeah that is the definitive britt daniel vocals album

I really liked Transference.

This one is shaping up to be a real favourite too.

I've been trying to work out what 'Inside Out' reminds me of, and I've worked out it's part 'Huey Newton' by St Vincent and part the Easy Star Allstars' version of Pink Floyd's 'Us & Them'

this thing is hella singable

love the punchiness of the drums on this albums.

Ha, I've see people moaning Hagar they hate the drum sound on this record compared to earlier Spoon because the drums are flat and don't snap. Horses, courses.

Hagar? wtf, iPhone.

Hodor!

They Want My Three Lock Box

Just listened to an interview with these guys on the Nerdist. Jesus was that uncomfortable for Britt. He seems like a pretty quiet guy who just wants to talk about music. Few good tidbits though. "Outlier" was written without at least the music without Britt's involvement and another track on the record (they didn't say which one) had been around since Gimmie Fiction.

my friend told me Knock X 3 sounds like Pink Flyod's Pigs.

and he is right, in a way

melody on the chorus of "Do You" is definitely not something I expected from Spoon. s'good though. that's what we say we want right? good and surprising?

had either Outlier or Do You stuck in my head the last three days. this might turn out to be my fave spoon record, which i never would have expected on first listen

it really is right up there imo

one of the highlights for me on this album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3pLsdBI6QE

ok, i had some summer listens, now for some fall listens

weekend snow listens

'Inside Out' is just dandy, innit?

break out of character for me

Jeez, this album!

Why did I wait so long?!

I faded on this quite quickly but it has come back with a vengeance. Probably their best after Gax5. Rent I pay is so-so, They Want My Soul is slightly annoying (mostly the chorus lyrics that put me off I think, a shame as the verse sounds so warm and inviting), and IJDU is worthless - but the rest is silver to gold. Walking round the house singing the falsetto 'do-do-doos' from Do You is immensely enjoyable. Sometimes I think it's the best track but then New York Kiss comes along.

Yeah, "Do You" is a weapons-grade earworm

I'm doing my top Spoon songs for the imminent Spoon artist poll and was surprised how many off this album made the final 20

i did not know that was going on!!!

Yeah I need to start gearing up for that as well.

i asked this in the poll thread. going to open the Spoon poll tonight and need help with side-poll idea's. so what kind of side-polls should we have for our Spoon poll?

what kind of spoon is Spoon?

http://www.chicagosilver.com/utensils_files/image001.jpg

Runcible obv.

Have always been lukewarm on this album and I’m realizing tonight that it might be entirely due to “Outlier” (the “you walked out of Garden State” one). The rest of the album is pretty solid

I really like this one. probably the last one I really gave a fair shake. braking my brain that it’s 8 years old now. spent a lot of time listening to this when I lived in Nashville and walked everywhere