Albums I Love #2: They Want My Soul

Spoon's 8th Album

I was late to Spoon. In fact, they first came on my radar with Gimme Fiction, which came out 19 years ago yesterday as I write this. I fell head over heels immediately and quickly got the rest of their catalogue to that point in my ears. Before now, I would have ranked Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, their 2007 album as my favorite, but after diving back into They Want My Soul recently on the occasion of its 10th anniversary, I might give it the edge. Of course, their whole catalog is consistently great and the album you are listening to at the moment often feels like their best one. While others may eventually get their due in this series, I’m starting here…

Rent I Pay - The album comes out the gate hard…literally, with Jim Eno bashing the hell out of a drum before the guitar comes in and then the bass brings it all together. It demonstrates the Spoon aesthetic, with cool instrumental parts that seem simple on their own, but the alchemy of them coming together is magic, especially when Britt Daniel lays his vocals atop.

Inside Out - If you think that aesthetic leads to stagnation or boredom, this songs disabuses you of that notion quickly. The same elements are there, but this is a spacier, blissed out sound that you just want to listen to in an unending loop. “Break out of character for me,” indeed, and let those keys wash over you.

Rainy Taxi - This one takes a turn for the dark and menacing, with the bass upfront and slashing guitar accents around a killer groove. Also, do you want some random crazy piano? It’s here too (and also, why wouldn’t you?).

Do You - This one is power pop song, except the instrumentation is not what you’d expect from power pop, so it doesn’t really read that way. The rhythm guitar is prominent throughout and so is Britt’s falsetto. Proof again of the magic trick that Spoon uses so effectively without it being only one-note.

Knock Knock Knock - Syncopated acoustic guitar against a drumbeat, the bass doing great work, and then you add whistling on top of it? I’m all in. Also, is Britt singing about After Hours, the 1985 Martin Scorsese film? Perfect.

Outlier - Speaking of singing about movies, here’s a diss on Garden State within the first few lines…or maybe it’s a takedown of someone who would diss that movie. Anyway, this song gets a little funky and a little spacey all at the same time. Plus, handclaps. It’s probably my least favorite song on the album, but it’s also really good.

They Want My Soul - Who wants Britt’s soul? Card shark, street preachers, educated folk singers, and more…plus, Jonathan Fisk (the band isn’t usually this self-referential). It’s the most straight-up rock song on the album, though it’s straight-up in the Spoon vernacular, so it’s still left of center.

I Just Don’t Understand - This is not Spoon’s greatest cover. That honor belongs to their cover of Smog’s “Held,” which opens their latest album Lucifer on the Sofa from 2022. “I Just Don’t Understand” is a cover of a song that was a chart hit in 1961 for Ann-Margaret, which seems like an odd choice until you learn The Beatles also covered it. It’s a fun pop tune and the band seems like they have fun playing it.

Let Me Be Mine - All great albums have the song you don’t really notice the first few to a half dozen times you listen and then somewhere around your tenth listen, you think to yourself…is this the best song on the album? I mean, it’s probably isn’t but then again it’s not NOT the best song. “Auction off what you love/it will come back some time” kinda sums it up.

New York Kiss - Everything you’ve liked about the album is here in the closing track (well, except for the whistling, but that was a one-time thing). It’s pop music the Spoon way. Right now you know no other time and no other place and the album says goodnight…and then you wake up the next day with these songs lodged in your head and you don’t want it any other way.