Spoon – Lucifer on the Sofa
Reviewed by Randall Holmes (DJ Randall) 2022-07-19
General - Alternative Rock, Art Rock
All approximately mid-tempo straightforward rock album songs recorded out of Austin, Texas, and their first release in almost five years. Straightforward because around 3-5 minute well-edited songs with no guesswork to chords and arrangements and all hit the high sonic production standard. Rolling Stone says it’s their best album ever… Prefer the in-depth review by Popmatters.com/spoon-lucifer-on-sofa-review
RIYL: The War On Drugs, The National, Wilco
FCCs: None.
Favorite tracks: 4, 10, 8, 9
Track Reviews:
1. Held (04:44) Plodding groove repetitive riff with a mildly distorted maybe jangly guitar. Sludgy mix of the layering slighty lofi vibe. Platey-verb vocals call on the spot changes. Spacy middle cause drums drop out.
2. The Hardest Cut (03:13) Bouncier upbeat tune. Maybe quickest tempo, grittier song, rubbery bass underlying square wave distortion guitar during breakdown. Short, sharp, shock of a vintage guitar solo.
3. The Devil & Mister Jones (04:36) Funkier sounding tune. Sparser instrumentation with harmonizing vocals keeping the chords filled out. You might forget melody, replaced with that other Mr. Jones song, but you’ll remember he sings Mr. Jones.
4. Wild (03:13) Co-written with Jack Antonoff (Bleachers and Fun.) Better vocal melodic verses, catchiest chorus hooks on here. From Jack? Hi-hat beat with piano occasionally keeping chords. Little guitar solo.
5. My Babe (03:47) Mixing up tonality with acoustic guitars and celestial sounding keys/pads and piano with no drums or beats at first makes it float for the first minute. Nice grab for a tinge of melancholy.
6. Feels Alright (02:56) Really cool intro. Unison bass/guitars with funkin drums. Descending chords on chorus feel like you lost something. Drums drop out here and there leaving some spacey layering. Harmonizing guitars, or harmonized guitar, are neat addition to texture.
7. On The Radio (03:19) Droning mostly two chord verses (adds a third briefly). Another chorus featuring some descending chords. Most desperate vocals. Weird dissonance in the drum-free bridge breakdown.
8. Astral Jacket (03:46) Rhodes (Which synth… Let me know.) Sparsest instrumentally on here, but long dreamy “ahs” beg listen again x2. Minimalist easy bass drum and closed hats, distortion toms in background like distant thunder. Harmonizing vox and acoustic guitar. A harp there for good measure.
9. Satellite (03:45) Buried vocals behind a big fat warm bass with some warbling keys. Piano ties it all together. Return of the square wave guitar distortion solos. Billy Joel-ish at times?
10. Lucifer On The Sofa (05:09) This tune is super chill. Sort of a Fleetwood Mac Gypsy sounding bass/drums. Rhodes keeping it together on chords. Cool sax and horns with long chorus/delays. Not sure about Texas winters, but the chorus lyrics “All your old records all your old cassettes” matched with, “feel the winter sky,” sends an actual snow-on-the-ground Chicago-style winter scene, maybe being from the Midwest in the 80s and actually listening to someone elses old records and my (now old) cassettes? TMI.