& ie.

Modern Lakes

Tuesday, February 2

If you know what good rock is, head to the Orpheum Theatre
tonight to see Alice in Chains featuring special guests Atom
Brains. The Chains have yet to break, and although original lead
singer Layne Staley died in 2002 in Seattle, his replacement fits
and the group will still knock your socks off.

Wednesday, February 3

Of the rare but good indie rock groups that emerge around the
Vancouver scene, Modern Lakes is one of them. Check out the
media club tonight for their CD release party with supporting
group Paper Sands.

Friday, February 5

Oh, concert goers, what a treat you have tonight! The commodore
is turning into a head-bangers ballroom this evening featuring the
return of metal giants Arch Enemy and Exodus. If you feel more
like getting into groove metal, hang out at the El Dorado to see
New West’s own Black Wizard. In the mood for some horrorbilly?
The Rickshaw theatre is showcasing Big John Bates with the
voodoo dolls, and as always there will be plenty of Jagermeister.
For a trip back to yesteryear, Pub 340 has The Long Riders, a
Leonard Skynyrd tribute group. These guys will be back, however;
they don’t dare fly anywhere else.

Saturday, February 6

Check out UBC’s production of Harry Sommer’s Louis Riel, a
truly Canadian heritage piece that every member of our country
interested in history should experience. This opera runs at the Chan
Centre from February 3—7, but most Douglas students will be in
attendance on this night. Not into opera? Head over to the Railway
for a blues jam that starts at 4 p.m.

Sunday, February 7

Make the trip out to the Bell Centre in Surrey the West Coast
Symphony’s performance of several romantic pieces as well
as some new arrangements. Child violin virtuosos will be
sitting in first chair, featured on pieces from such composers as
Mendelssohn, Revel and Rossini.

 

 

Spoon’s new album Transference is

unresolved, not uninspired

By Cody Klyne

poon, The heavy-hitting indie
S rockers who have done everything

but slow down since the release of
2005’s Gimme Fiction and 2007’s Ga
Ga Ga Ga Ga are at it again.

Transference, the band’s seventh

studio album, is a unique twist on the
formula that Spoon has been keeping

 
      

album feeling gelatinous as it settles into
the new raw mold uninhibited by flash or
swagger.

“Written in Reverse,” a moody and
aggressive opportunity for Daniel to let
loose and how! like a scorned man, flows
into the slightly somber attack of “I Saw
the Light”. Not necessarily a concept
album, Transference thrives on the ups
and downs that Daniel brings to the
table through his varied; sometimes soft,

“A sense of inner struggle comes through in this tug-of-war,
making each track unique.”

to for the past ten years. Part direct,
pounding and raucous; part soft, subtle
and hauntingly melodic, Transference
has vocalist Britt Daniel in a new light.

Like successfully traversing a
precarious tightrope, the risks Daniel
takes by favouring a more vulnerable,
comparatively raw approach places
Transference in an interesting position in
the grand scheme of Spoon’s catalogue.
Evident as this divergence is throughout
the album, it somehow still manages
to fall in line with what we’ve come to
expect from the tight four-piece from
Austin, Texas.

Things open up with the
thoughtfully-constructed and steadily-
paced track “Before Destruction”. Even
here, at the beginning of the album,
it’s hard not to notice traces of the
purposefully disjointed structure that
only becomes more prevalent as things
progress. Followed up by the slightly
more boisterous “Is Love Forever?”
Daniel’s half sung-words coupled with
a cutting beat make for an alarming
transition into the jaunty, danceable
pulse of “The Mystery Zone.” Carrying
into the sober groove of “Who Makes
Your Money,” the opening tracks of the

sometimes guttural, approach.

A sense of inner struggle comes through
in this tug-of-war, making each track
unique. Picking things back up with

the ever so hummable “Trouble Comes
Running,” momentum boils over and
simmers softly into the lovely lullaby of
“Goodnight Laura.”

From here, “Out Go the Lights”
and “Got Nuffin” are easily the most
accessible and traditional songs on
the album. Vulnerable and saturated
in a hot-blooded sense of loneliness,
the more clearly defined structure of
these tracks shines through in defiance
of the murky, unresolved closeness
of the subject matter. Ending with the
unsettling “Nobody Gets Me but You,”
Transference piles dissonance upon
dissonance in a surprisingly effective
way.

While diehard fans may
misinterpret the rough-around-the-edges
nature of the album as a lack of polish,
Britt Daniel and the rest of Spoon clearly
had a creative vision that will not be
compromised. Imperfect, Transference’s
porous and exposed approach captures a
snapshot of human emotion that should
not be overlooked.