15 Second Record Review - Transference by Spoon

This is the hardest album I've had to review in recent memory. Is it that I don't understand where this album is coming from, or is the album confused about what it's trying to be? Several tracks on Transference are literally straight from the demo reel, while the others, including the singles, are much more raw and straight-forward than anything on the almost-masterful Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. New minimalism from a minimalist band. On first blush, this album sounds unfinished, cut-off, and disappointing. Yet on repeated listen, it starts to become comforting, satisfying. Spoon makes its mark by creating subtly dense soundscape from straight up, unprocessed, rock instruments that coalesce into hooky, poppy stimulation. That's not so much the case here. Instead, the Spoon elements are all there, but they just lie there, happy to follow whatever groove comes along rather than bend to the will of the song. It's not at all what I was expecting or hoping for, but it's not altogether unwanted, either. I have to go with my gut on this one, as I still can't seem to wrap my mind around it, and the feeling I get is largely warm and fuzzy. B