Austin based indie/art rock band Spoon have been around
since the early 90s and since then they’ve been on an unbelievable streak of
putting out great records, some even more so than that. It’s akin to Pixar’s superb
run of crowd-pleasing animated movies that all came crashing down with the
abomination that was Cars 2.
Thankfully Hot Thoughts is no such
run-ender and showcases why Spoon have been so good for so long whilst also teasing
potential musical avenues the band could travel down in the future. Suffice to say, it’s
bloody brilliant and you shouldn’t be surprised because it’s what Spoon do.
The opening title track is the perfect example of Spoon’s
talents and would be a prime candidate for being used as a track to turn somebody
into a Spoon fan (to be fair most of the tracks on this record could be used
for this purpose, just shows how damn good they are). It has all the hallmarks
of a Spoon track. It’s got the punchy guitar leads, the clever lyrics of frontman
Britt Daniel; he compares somebody’s teeth to the bright streets of Tokyo,
legendary stuff; but it also includes new elements such as bells that crash
into focus and add texture to an already superb song. It’s almost as if they’re
ringing in the album for the listener.
This introduction of new elements to the Spoon formula and
exploration of different musical styles is a recurring theme on the album. There’s
disco-punk like grooves on ‘First Caress’ which showcase the electronic
elements that the band promised would be present on this album, ‘Pink Up’ is
the near 6 minute four-to-the-floor centrepiece of the record which would have
been the best track on almost any alternative dance record in the
mid-2000s, and the closing track ‘Us’ is a beautifully structured saxophone
laden jazz instrumental that serves as a perfect coda to the record. This amalgamation
of styles can at times become a bit dissonant and make it seem that the band
are confused about what their direction is but when the songs are this good, it
doesn’t really matter.
There’s two specific tracks on this record that show why Spoon
have been this good. ‘Shotgun’ is just a straight up banger. The band keep it
simple on this track but the bombastic guitar-lead rhythm and the fantastic
melodies elevate it to something greater, it’s what fans of Spoon have come to
expect. And on ‘WhisperI’lllistentohearit’; where there is no clear structure;
the band manage to keep everything in check whilst drawing the listener in with
a metronomic opening beat and then keeping them interested by continuously
teasing a chorus that never comes before ending abruptly. With most bands this
would be an awful mess but with Spoon it’s another wicked track on a record
full of them. Whatever musical direction Spoon go for on their next record
whether it be full-blown electronic or a return to a purer form of their
formula, I can safely say it will be good because when a band has been this
good for this long, it would be foolhardy to expect anything less.