"Will you lose a bit of yourself?"

'Written in Reverse'

For some reason, I've always thought of these guys as a modern, indie incarnation of those young Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (seriously, go listen to 'American Girl' or imagine Petty singing 'Don't You Evah'). Deliberate, unmistakably American, summer afternoon rock n roll, with a twist of mystery.

But where the latter never shied away from a hook, Spoon have always kept themselves at a distance. For me, they were too cool, impenetrable. While writing one flawless song after another and sounding just right on record and in person, they somehow never let me have exactly what I wanted (two arguable exceptions being 'I Turn My Camera On' and 'You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb,' which in related news, were legit summer bangers). Britt Daniel's voice sounded too affected for me to believe it was genuine (until I saw them live and realized - sigh - it is), and their musical precision conveyed pure professionalism. Almost elitism. Don't get me wrong; these backhanded compliments are definitely compliments, and I wore the hell out of the last two albums.

But the new album, Transference, shows me some cracks in the armor. And I like it! Taking some queues from the last LP, it is decidedly darker and weirder. It feels more personal and raw. For once, Daniel openly questions himself. They took some missteps, but I think that's because they got out of their comfort zone.

Case in point: although occasionally stretching his voice in the past, you never before heard Daniel rip a yell like the one at the 2:10 minute mark of this jam. It almost sounds angry, like the guy actually lost his cool for a minute. Probably my favorite Spoon moment yet.