Spoon (band)

The band was formed in late 1993 by lead singer/guitarist Britt Daniel and drummer Jim Eno. The original lineup also included Greg Wilson (a.k.a. Wendel Stivers of the song "Theme to Wendel Stivers") on guitar and Andy McGuire on bass.^[1] The name Spoon was chosen to honor the 1970s German avant-garde band Can whose hit song "Spoon" was the theme song to the movie Das Messer.^[2]

Early years

Spoon's recording debut came with the vinyl release of The Nefarious EP in May of 1994.^[1] In 1995 the band signed with Matador Records, and within a year, Spoon released its first full-length LP Telephono in 1996. The album was met with mixed reviews, with critics often comparing their sound with the likes of the Pixies and Wire.^[3] But comparisons aside, Telephono showed signs of a band slipping free of its influences, mixing post-punk with a blend of pop.^[4]

Less than a year later, Spoon released its second EP, Soft Effects, which served as a transition to their more distinctive, honed sound.^[5] Unlike its predecessors, Soft Effects was less noisy and brash, showcasing a more sophisticated, minimalist approach.^[6]

In late 1996, Spoon was playing a gig at Denton, Texas, club the Argo with a local band called Maxine's Radiator, for whom Joshua Zarbo was playing bass at the time. Zarbo was invited to audition for Daniel and Eno in 1997, and subsequently became the band's full-time bassist until his permanent departure in 2007.^[7]

Elektra’s bad deal / Spoon’s reaction

Coming off the recent success of Soft Effects, Spoon was signed to Elektra Records in 1998. On their first major label deal, the band released A Series of Sneaks in May of 1998. What looked like the band’s biggest break ultimately turned out to nearly break the band - the album did not sell as fast as Elektra had originally hoped. In response, four months after the release of Sneaks, the band was dropped from the label, and the man responsible for the deal, Elektra’s A&R man Ronn Laffitte, was also fired.^[8] Angry with Laffitte (who had promised promotional funding) and the rest of the executives at Elektra (more precisely, CEO Sylvia Rhone), Spoon recorded a vindictively written two-song concept single entitled "The Agony of Laffitte". Immortalizing their broken deal, the cleverly titled songs “The Agony of Laffitte” and “Laffitte Don’t Fail Me Now” lament on the record label’s empty promises and place the label’s ethics into question.^[9]

Out of the Ashes

Spoon signed with the indie rock powerhouse Merge Records and soon released the Love Ways EP in 2000^[6], sans Josh Zarbo, who briefly quit the band but let Daniel and Eno borrow his bass for the recording sessions.^[10] A year later, Spoon released its third LP entitled Girls Can Tell in 2001. The new record was a success, selling more copies than both their previous LP releases combined.^[11] The band’s next 2002 release, Kill the Moonlight accomplished the same feat a year later.^[11] Kill the Moonlight also contained their most popular single "The Way We Get By", which was popularized by its placement on the teen drama The O.C..^[12] Their next album, Gimme Fiction, was released in May 2005, and debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, selling more than 160,000 copies.^[13]

Spoon’s Britt Daniel collaborated with Brian Reitzell to compose and arrange the soundtrack for the 2006 film Stranger than Fiction. The soundtrack consists chiefly of music performed by Spoon, and according to the liner notes of the official soundtrack, Brian Reitzell collaborated with Britt Daniel to compose the score, while also adapting several tracks from Kill the Moonlight and Gimme Fiction into instrumental versions of the songs.

Their most recent album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was released July 10, 2007, and debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200.^[14]

Recent commercial success

"I Turn My Camera On", from Gimme Fiction, was featured in the second season of Veronica Mars, as well as on the pilot episode of Bones, and "Don't Make Me a Target" and "Don't You Evah" from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga have been featured on Chuck. "I Summon You", from Gimme Fiction, was also featured in the sixth season episode of Scrubs, My Perspective. "Don't You Evah" and "I Turn My Camera On" have have also become dramatically popular on YouTube as dance soundtracks for the Japanese robot Keepon, accumulating over two-million hits to date.^[17] The song "Take A Walk" from Girls Can Tell was featured on the soundtrack to the popular video game "Matt Hoffman's Pro BMX 2".

Spoon is currently a long-distance band, as Daniel has lived in Portland, Oregon since early 2006.^[13]

The single "I Turn My Camera On" was featured in a May 4th 2008 episode of The Simpsons

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Other appearances

References

^ ^a ^b Hernandez, Raoul. "Drake Tungsten and His Boy Skellington." The Austin Chronicle, January 25, 1999.
^ Warren, Tamara. "Waxing Poetic", Anthem, Fall/Winter 2005, p. 54.
^ Jon Wiederhorn, “Album Reviews: Spoon - Telephono”, Rolling Stone Magazine, May 16, 1996.
^ Jennifer Kelly, “Reviews: Soft Effects EP/Telephono”, Pop Matters, July 31, 2006.
^ Brian Howe, August 1, 2006.
^ ^a ^b Kareem Estefan, “Spoon - Artist Profile”, "Stylus Magazine", September 1, 2003.
^ Joshua Zarbo's MySpace biography
^ Tim McMahan, “Lazy-I Interview: Spoon”, "The Omaha Weekly", April 18, 2001.
^ Camden Joy, “Total System Failure”, "The Village Voice", January 18, 2000.
^ Ken Lieck, "Dancing About Architecture," The Houston Chronicle, August 4, 2000.
^ ^a ^b Sean, “Sunday Music Spotlight - Spoon”, Pop Culture Will Eat Itself , August 26, 2007.
^ Brooklyn Vegan Mike, “RIP The O.C. (& a list of EVERY song ever played)”, Brooklyn Vegan, January 3, 2007.
^ ^a ^b Joe Gross, “In tune with Spoon”, Austin 360, July 5, 2007.
^ Katie Hasty, “T.I. Holds Off Pumpkins, Interpol To Remain No. 1”, Billboard 200, July 18, 2007.
^ SNL Archives | Detail. Retrieved October 16, 2007.
^ SNL Archives | Detail. Retrieved October 16, 2007.
^ YouTube KeepOn Dancing to Spoon | Detail. Retrieved March 18, 2008.

Contents

History