Spoon - Lucifer on the Sofa

Saw them in April, they were great, just a good ol' rock&roll show from the git-go.

The opening band was Geese from New York City and this was there fifth show ever. they were good, they are classic rock/Strokes vibe going and I could see they could become something.

As I stated it was my birthday and my friend Rob wanted to buy me a beer. Well he could not find his way back to me. So I was shouting on my phone between bands and of course everyone around me knew what was going on. Then a bunch of people put on their flashlight, on their phones to try and direct him back to me. I then had a dad and his daughter trying to help and he was throwing his daughter up in the air for my buddy to see. It was the greatest thing ever. It didn't work and so I lost my prime real-estate.

Spoon were great as usual. My only complaint is they played like six songs from the new album but that was fine as it's this tour. My friend, who had skepticism of Spoon, absolutely loved them and finally after all these years won him over.

They said they haven't played this in a long time. I know I have never heard it live before. "The Mystery Zone."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI29iv4hDUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryyHZeK4aNc

Probably my favorite song from this album, anyway the video was released today.

This album is such a triumph. The term that keeps coming to mind, for whatever reason, is "victory lap."

I was trying to construct an elaborate and unnecessary career analogy between Leonard Cohen and Spoon, which would I guess make this = 1992's The Future (25 years on from the debut and releasing some of the best songs of their career, just with slightly longer gaps between albums). Here's hoping I don't have to wait 9 years to hear the next one!

I'm actually loving this a lot myself. I began playing Spoon non-stop for two days after having to pass on their surprise show last night due to work and life commitments (at a small venue with a mere 280 capacity - ARGH) and I was surprised how great this sounded after hearing the previous five albums in a row. Hot Thoughts was commendable but I liked those songs better via live recordings - same arrangements and everything but something about the way that record's mixed made it sound kind of congested and a bit too manicured for my tastes. The sound of Lucifer really jumps out more, and it feels more lively and a bit more spontaneous - the more I listen to it, the more it feels like everyone's in the moment and playing off of each other. It's possible that's not the case at all, especially given how much work was done during the pandemic, but that's what I hear.

Huh, didn't see this coming... Lucifer On the Moon a "reconstruction" of LOTS by Adrian Sherwood.

https://pitchfork.com/news/spoon-announce-remix-album-share-video-for-new-version-of-on-the-radio-watch/

i love the idea of a full-album remix done by a single producer, wish more bands did it

I'm all over this, despite this being my least favorite Spoon album. Can't help but wonder what Sherwood would have done with, say, Gax5. Oh well. The preview single sounds fantastic - much better than the album version, in my opinion - and let's be honest, if there is a single indie band warranting this sort of treatment, it's Spoon.

Even less of a favorite than the pre-Girls Can Tell stuff? That's a bold stance. I really dig this new one.

it's still minor spoon but i've got it on right now and some of these songs are pretty darn good.

Yeah, I think, on balance, I prefer the pre-GCT stuff to their latest. It's the first Spoon album with songs I skip, and I think the Smog cover may be my least favorite thing they've ever done. It hurts, too, because they are pretty much the only active rock band I still check out. I will say there are a few songs on Lucifer I do really like, especially the title track (which I love), and the first single

as of this moment

Gax5
Transference
Kill the Moonlight
Gimme Fiction
Hot Thoughts
LOTS
They Want My Soul
Girls Can Tell
A Series of Sneaks
Telephono

Very close to mine! And I thought I was the only one who rated Transference near the top. Very underrated Spoon album, I think.

That said, I definitely like Girls Can Tell more than you do, though I will concede it really starts to sag near the end. May have to think about my ranking.

Honestly the top 5 there is nearly interchangeable, I love them all. I don't dislike GTT, more that it's just the top of the lower division of their catalog. TWMS I waffle back and forth on a lot, it's one I struggle with full loving but the heights are undeniable. KTM was where I first learned of Spoon so I rate it pretty highly.

Fucking love Transference.

God-tier:

Gax5
Transference
Kill the Moonlight
Girls Can Tell

Killer:

Gimme Fiction
They Want My Soul

Merely excellent:

A Series of Sneaks

Meh:

Hot Thoughts
Lucifer
Telephono

as of this moment

Gax5
Kill the Moonlight
They Want My Soul
Gimme Fiction
Hot Thoughts
Transference
Girls Can Tell

Lucifer on the Sofa
A Series of Sneaks

Telephone

Wow, not a lot of love for the first two albums here. Thread may inspire me to re-listen to the albums chronologically to come up with a ranking. I know Hot Thoughts and TWMS sort of blend together for me for some reason, as do the highlights on Girls Can Tell and Kill The Moonlight

As I'd hoped, Lucifer On The Moon goes a long way to redeeming this album for me. With the exception of "Held," which is beyond saving imo (easily my least favorite Spoon track), all of the songs I wasn't crazy about on the original album are improved upon here. I still prefer the original version of the title track and maybe "Held," but overall I think these Sherwood remixes make for a much better album. That said, I wonder how I'd feel about it if I wasn't familiar with the source material. How weird would it have been if they'd just released this instead of Lucifer on the Sofa?

(meant to write I still prefer the original version of the title track and maybe "Wild")

Any love for this record, ILX?

2 weeks ago i went to the pub.
came home and bought the on-u version.
about 2 mins in i realised i had bought the normal version.
clearly i had more booze than i realised.
back to bandcamp, and bought the on-u version.
would never have normally bought the normal version, but yeah, its rather good.
of course i am all about the on-u version which is bloody brilliant a la echodek.

That's a good comparison. As with the Primal Scream album, I think this works really well as a standalone LP, even without necessarily being familiar with the source material

I haven’t heard Moon yet, but maybe I’ll give it a spin.

The source album left me pretty cold the few times I played it. Maybe I should try again, as a lot of people hear something in it.

I revisited it several times for the same reason - that others seems to hear something in it I didn't - and my opinion did not change. It's absolutely my least favorite Spoon album. That said, I've been really into Lucifer on the Moon, so I'm curious to hear what you think of it!

Madness in this thread. Lucifer is top-tier Spoon!

I really love the title track. "Wild" is nice and I like "On The Radio" quite a bit. But the Callahan cover is the only Spoon song I'd actually call "embarrassing." And they put it first! Most of the rest is just forgettable imo

LOVE the Callahan cover, sounded incredible when I saw them last month in Austin.

this dub project is like it was aimed right at me as a susceptible fan-- i like the concept of it as much as anything else about it. and yeah i like the remixes. 'wild' is pretty damn amazing. the violin parts of satellite sit just right in there, loved it, then glides over to piano piece.

all of the pieces feel weirdly short to me, like soundbites of great bits

Yeah, I was surprised by the mixed reception because I really enjoyed the new album a lot. I'm not sure if it was recorded live (I would have guessed piecemeal if it was done over the pandemic) but it feels like a live performance with the way they're playing off of each other, and all the better for it.

Nine months later I am still deply in love with Wild and My Babe, which feel like flipside songs about the same topic - growing old. Wild is that nostalgic yearning for the potential of youth, that thirst for adventures (or the memory thereof), whereas My Babe is like the Spoon equivalent of that "that Captain Corelli quote that people have at weddings" as my friend Rob put it, past the first flush of excitement (and the second and the third and the fourth) and probably through shared trauma and out the otherside into the intertwined-roots stage.

I think this is a good and enjoyable Spoon record. I like it more than the last two, and maybe as much as Transference. I am absolutely baffled that anyone wuld find Held embarassing: it's my third favourite after the aforementioned pair.

It's an album that struts. It makes me want to be in a band in my friend's garage in the summertime, which is what I want from Spoon, plus those edges of real emotional depth and insight that occasionally shimmer through, which is also what I want froma Spoon record.

I'm not really a big Callahan stan or anything, but I do like the original version of that song, and I don't think I've heard a cover that misunderstands a song more than this one does since the last time a church choir sang Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." I mean, the original is an intimate, vulnerable work, and Spoon turned it into a Black Keys song, complete with rock star "whoo!" interjections. Just found it tacky, almost vulgar. Like I said, it's the first Spoon song in their entire discography I strongly dislike. I will continue to ride for Spoon.

Ah, I've never (knowingly) heard the original, so basically heard it (like Domn't You Evah) as a Spoon original, and as such it feels REALLY Spoon-y to me. Have a couple of Callahan albums but not precious about him at all, and my favourite song by him is Eid Ma Clack Shaw, so view him as having big sense of humour...

"Held" sounds to me like a very good band in a room joyfully playing music together...

don’t know the original, don’t care for callahan but the juxtaposition between the big bluesy riff and the lyric about letting oneself be held for the first time is fantastic

Agree with Ponzi that Held is the only Spoon doing I've actively disliked (whereas a few others just leave little impression). The worst song of their career for sure.

As for Lucifer on the Moon, I'm not enjoying it like I'd expected to. I love Spoon and Adrian Sherwood in almost equal amounts, but there's not much that's transcendent here. If I wasn't familiar with the original albums I would find the choices about the "kept" vocals and guitar parts quite baffling. These don't really feel like proper dub workouts to me. Somehow it remains more rock than dub.

I’ve disliked a few Spoon songs in the past — finally coming around to The Fitted Shirt, even, which I never got the love for.

I just listened to all their records in order on headphones, and I’m now firmly convinced that they’re the best rock band of the century. Their records are insanely well produced and arranged, but they never fail to really rock when it’s required. Like they _seem_ really cerebral in the way their songs are put together, but they rarely trip over their own brains; if it comes to conceptual whatever vs just givin’’er, they almost always err on the side of kicking out the jams.

I’m not mad on They Want My Soul or Lucifer. Both albums seem lacking a sense of aural space that feels essential to their appeal. But I _buy_ TWMS in a way that I don’t buy LOTS. Maybe it’s an allergy to classic rock tropes, and maybe it’s something I’ll overcome; I came around to Hot Thoughts after being initially cool toward it.

I do like Wild. One of my top songs of the year. But most of the rest of LOTS doesn’t ring my bells.

Listening to Lucifer on the Moon, though…. I think if they had released this as the album I’d think it was up there with their best — some trick of perception. Can see myself listening to this a lot more than the main album.

This new song Sugar Babies is pretty good. More interesting that anything on Lucifer on the Sofa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux_FGrZuvko

I was wondering what you were talking about Nate and then found the song. Yes you're right, good.

ty, I should've done that really

This is great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8vIyOnl6K8

Killer EP.