
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)

There's been a lot of talk of Spoon now being a full-fledged "Rock" band. Just because their album cover and art and their press photos look more "rock" trendy doesn't make them so. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga doesn't sound too different from the excellent Gimme Fiction and in fact, Ga is probably a bit more experimental and eclectic, albeit very minimlal than Gimme. Many of the songs, including the solid "Rhthm and Soul" and standout "You got Yr. Cherry Bomb" could have easily fit on their last album. However, debut single from Ga, "The Underdog," covers new ground that doesn't sound like any Spoon song I can remember -with it's instumental and melodic experimental traits. It still has the Spoon signature on it though and it makes for an excellent single. "The Ghost of You Lingers" is the most experimental track on the album, with less discernable vocals and more attention to the style and structure as it relates to it's title of the song and less attention to an accessible sound. The style works nicely, as there is an owl-like sound repeatedly in the back ground and a constant pounding of a short range of piano notes, making the song more mysterious and urgent, which is cohesive with its title. However, the song suffers from no real transition...it basically goes nowhere in the end.
What makes Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga stand out from its predcessors is the attention to detail in each of the songs. It definitely has a wider range in sound -as you can hear with the solid standard Spoonish opener, "Don't Make me a Target" ...which then moves to the echoey, haunting "The Ghost of You Lingers" and then to the highlight of the album, "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb." The next track, "Don't You Evah" is a mediocre ode to past Spoon records -still, it standouts in it's timelessness. Then you have "The Underdog" later in the album, which is followed by the worthy, minimalish sound of "My Little Japanese Cigarette Case." Then they have the great "Finer Feelings" which probably should have been placed as the last track. The finale, "Black Like Me" is decent enough but it has a quasi-emoish adolescent indulgent sound and mood to it. While song for song, Ga may not stand up to Fiction, it manages to make the case for being Spoon's fullest realized effort.
hear: Don't Make Me a Target, You got Yr. Cherry Bomb, Rhthm and Soul, The Underdog, Finer Feelings
www.spoontheband.com
www.mergerecords.com

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