To call Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga one of the year’s two or three best rock albums is to overstate how much it sounds like a rock album. There’s no mistaking its imperturbable swagger and seething refrains for anything else — Spoon still knows how to write a song that could fit into each of rock’s past five decades without tipping toward any one in particular. But even songs on Ga Ga that traffic in guitars don’t sound like they were written with guitars in mind. Spoon sounds more interested now in drums and empty space, both of which sparkle and boom in ways that make singer Britt Daniel sound positively electrified to be in their presence.
The sparse and experimental lean of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga places it closer to the group’s 2002 breakthrough Kill the Moonlight than its bash-minded follow-up Gimme Fiction. “Don’t Make Me a Target” opens on a note of resignation and rage, with portentous guitar and piano that build toward a sort of atonal rockabilly jam about two minutes in. From there, though, the album takes on an air of mystery with “The Ghost of You Lingers,” a gorgeous and terrifying ballad in which Daniel’s distended voice duels with blasts of static and more reverb than could ever sound earthly. The jarring tonal shift into “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” proves perverse but, as goes for most of Spoon’s moves at this point, not overly pleased with itself: After bells and slappy drums enter like Phil Spector as summoned by David Lynch, the buoyant tune takes over and lodges into that part of your brain where pleasurable pop hooks go and stay mum.
What sticks most on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is the grain and range of Daniel’s voice, which must have been miked a dozen different ways to capture his timbral moods in tracks as disparate as “Don’t You Evah” (Spoon’s most funky song yet, by a good measure) and “The Underdog” (Spoon’s most Billy Joel-like song yet, to the same degree). Nothing Daniel does has ever sounded labored, but Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga finds him and his band with a newly refined balance between craft and restraint.
Rate it!
Avg: 4.0 (3550 ratings)
- Date Released: July 10, 2007
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Alternative, Indie Rock
- Label: Merge Records
David Lynch, Phil Spector, Billy Joel walk into a bar...
-
We Say...
To call Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga one of the year’s two or three best rock albums is to overstate how much it sounds like a rock album. There’s no mistaking its imperturbable swagger and seething refrains for anything else — Spoon still knows how to write a song that could fit into each of rock’s past five decades without tipping toward any one in p... -
They Say...
"Attention to detail" doesn't necessarily sound like the secret ingredient to brilliant rock & roll, but in Spoon's case, it comes second only to inspiration. Britt Daniel, Jim Eno, and company keep finding ways to challenge themselves and their listeners by working within the same basic, streamlined sonic framework they crafted on Girls Can Tel..."Attention to detail" doesn't necessarily sound like the secret ingredient to brilliant rock & roll, but in Spoon's case, it comes second only to inspiration. Britt Daniel, Jim Eno, and company keep finding ways to challenge themselves and their listeners by working within the same basic, streamlined sonic framework they crafted on Girls Can Tell, adding a few new twists here and there with each album. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga just might be the most winning update on this approach since Girls Can Tell itself: each song is as carefully and creatively pruned as a bonsai tree, with nothing fussy or superfluous to mar the clean lines of the songwriting or arrangements. This is especially impressive considering that on this album, Spoon works with their widest array of sounds yet. Everything from kotos to chamberlains to horns straight out of Motown are fair game on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, but they're used so deftly and judiciously that they never feel like window dressing. As on Gimme Fiction, the band maps out Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga's territory within the first three tracks. "Don't Make Me a Target" is a sleek yet gritty prologue designed to draw listeners in like Fiction's "The Beast and Dragon, Adored," and its seductive pull only heightens the impact of "The Ghost of You Lingers." All pounding pianos and fleeting, fragmented verses, the song initially feels like it's all buildup and no release, but this insistent yet incomplete feeling is what makes it haunting and brilliant: its circling thoughts and echoes upon echoes feel like you're chasing the song -- or its subject -- to no avail. Even if "The Ghost of You Lingers" almost perversely avoids hooks, "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb"'s homage to blue-eyed soul delivers them in abundance. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga's songs are svelte, especially compared to Gimme Fiction, yet they're far from starved. Interesting details decorate the margins of these songs, whether it's the studio chatter that revs up "Don't You Evah" or the fascinatingly fragmented lyrics of "Eddie's Ragga" ("there ain't no getting over Joanie Hale-Maier"). Jon Brion pops up bass, chamberlain, and production duties on "The Underdog," one of Spoon's bounciest, brassiest nods to classic pop in a long time, and a perfect contrast to the exotic, spooky minimalism of "My Little Japanese Cigarette Case"'s shivery kotos and Spanish guitars. Concise and lively ("Black Like Me" is as close as the album gets to a ballad), Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a remarkable blend of focus and creativity; even if Spoon's modus operandi seems overly regimented on paper, the results are just as elegant as they are fun. -
You Say...
Write a ReviewI would like to say...
Update Nickname
Your default nickname is . If you would like to post album reviews or other content to the site, you must change your nickname first. Please note that you may change your nickname only once, so please choose carefully.
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 10 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 10 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
| 01. |  |
Don't Make Me a Target |
3:55 |
|
| 02. | |
The Ghost of You Lingers |
3:34 |
|
| 03. | |
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb |
3:08 |
|
| 04. | |
Don't You Evah |
3:36 |
|
| 05. | |
Rhthm & Soul |
3:30 |
|
| 06. | |
Eddie's Ragga |
3:39 |
|
| 07. | |
The Underdog |
3:42 |
|
| 08. | |
My Little Japanese Cigarette Case |
3:03 |
|
| 09. | |
Finer Feelings |
4:54 |
|
| 10. | |
Black Like Me |
3:25 |
|
10 Total Tracks, 36:26 Total Length
Upcoming Shows
Loading...
Discover Recommended by our editors
UK Best Albums of 2007: 10 - 1
by eMusic Staff
Trying to come up with a unifying that will snugly encompass a whole year's worth of releases...
more.UK 2007 User Poll: 10 - 1
by eMusic Users
When we asked our subscribers to list their five favorite albums of the past twelve months, t...
more.2007 User Poll: 10 - 1
by eMusic Users
When we asked our subscribers to list their five favorite albums of the past twelve months, t...
more.My Dozen
by Britt Daniel
I had the kind of dad that liked to wake up the house by putting on the Beatles' "Birthday" r...
more.Prog (Not Prog?)
by Mark Paytress
Progressive rock signified, as its name implies, the potentially limitless forward march of r...
more.Playlists If you like Spoon, check out these member playlists
Credits
- Ron Blake - Trumpet // Jon Brion - Bass // Jon Brion - Bass // Jon Brion - Guitar (Bass) // Jon Brion - Guitar (Bass) // Jon Brion - Producer // Jon Brion - Producer // Jon Brion - Chamberlin // Jon Brion - Chamberlin // Jon Brion - Audio Production // Jon Brion - Audio Production // John Catchings - Cello // Spoon - Audio Production // Howie Weinberg - Mastering // Billy White - Flamenco Guitar // Jeff Byrd - Live Sound // Francisco Torres - Trombone // Graham Hughes - Vocals (Background) // Mike McCarthy - Koto // Mike McCarthy - Koto // Mike McCarthy - Producer // Mike McCarthy - Producer // Mike McCarthy - Engineer // Mike McCarthy - Engineer // Mike McCarthy - Audio Production // Mike McCarthy - Audio Production // Philippe Migeat - Photography // Ugo Mulas - Cover Photo // Britt Daniel - Vocals // Britt Daniel - Producer // Britt Daniel - Design // Robert Pope - Bass // Sean McCabe - Photography // Jim Eno - Drums // Jim Eno - Producer // Jim Eno - Engineer // Jason Freese - Saxophone // Leslie Richter - Assistant Engineer // Ben Dickey - Management // Greg Koller - Engineer // Greg Koller - Audio Engineer // Ron Blake - Trumpet // Matthew Colecchi - Koto // Matthew Colecchi - Assistant Engineer // BD - Audio Production // Tosca String Quartet - Strings // Matthew Colecchi - Koto // Eggo Johanson - Tambourine // Yasmine Kittles - Vocals (Background) // Tommy Poole - Horn // Je - Audio Production // Je - Audio Engineer // Rob Pope - Guitar (Bass) // Eric Harvey - Keyboards // MM - Audio Engineer
-
Other Details
- Instruments:
- Guitar (Electric) //
- Vocals
Choose from over 7 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs available for 42p or less
eMusic subscriptions start at just £9.99 a month for 24 downloads - that's just 42p per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as 36p per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.
