pop quiz

Spoon is:
a) a useful eating utensil, essential for the consumption of soup and ice cream
b) the battle cry of The Tick
c) a way to cuddle your sweetheart (but where do you put your arm?)
d) a totally sweet rock&roll band out of Texas
e) all of the above

The answer, of course, is "e". But this post is about the rock&roll band. Spoon isn't exactly an under-the-radar band anymore, but I highly encourage anyone unfamiliar with them to check out their music.

I would not, however, start with their newest album, "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga." Not to say the new album isn't good, because it is. But I still think "Girls Can Tell" and "Kill the Moonlight" are better. Both of those albums are able to convey a lot with very sparse instrumentation--it's definitely a unique style. The music in "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" is definitely beefier. That's not a bad thing necessarily, but it's a departure from what drew me to the band's music in the first place.

Anyway, I'm not writing a lengthy Pitchfork-style review here. I just think everyone should listen to Spoon, but maybe start with some of their earlier albums (but not their earliest albums, which I actually don't like that much). Start with "Girls Can Tell" and work your way up to the newer stuff. My fellow bloggers are welcome to chime in with dissenting or supporting opinions on the band and/or the album.

Oh yeah, and if you understood what I was talking about with answer "b" or the movie reference in answer "c" in my pop quiz, hiya fellow dork!