Good music, near and far

Spoon is the band Wilco wishes it could be. And American rock ‘n’ roll is alive and well – it just doesn’t get enough attention.

Spoon, a 17-year-old band from Austin, Texas, has seven studio albums under its belt. The latest album, “Transference,” is proof that when recording, the band knows exactly what they’re doing.

And, man, they are good at what they do. I hate to rag on Wilco, and if you’re a fan of Jeff Tweedy, I apologize if I’ve offended you. It’s just that when I first heard Wilco, it was love at first listen.

The fifth album, “A Ghost Is Born,” was simply amazing. But since then, they’ve adopted a sound reminiscent of the Eagles after being roofied.

Every time a Wilco song comes to that point where I want them to start jamming and get into it, maybe give me some tasty licks with strained vocals, they devolve into a meandering bird walk of acoustic guitar picking. It’s frustrating.

Spoon, on the other hand, sounds like Wilco’s tough older brother, the kind of child who would beat you up if you took Wilco’s lunch money.

Spoon produced “Transference” themselves, and it has a homemade organic charm that is instantly magnetic. It doesn’t have that studio polish that I loathe. Instead, you can hear that this group of guys has gotten extremely good at playing together, and they have fun doing it. I confess that I wasn’t really a Spoon fan until “Transference” came out. I own more Wilco albums in fact.

That all changed when I stopped at Starbucks on my way out of town for spring break. On impulse, I did something I told myself I’d never do – I bought music from Starbucks. I had been listening to individual tracks online, and in a moment of weakness, I purchased the overpriced CD sitting next to the biscotti and chocolate-covered coffee beans. Yet once I got to my truck, I was consoled by track after track of hypnotic rhythms, cryptic lyrics and creative guitar hooks. If you don’t want to get the whole album, I would definitely recommend checking out the biggest single from that album, “Written in Reverse,” and my other favorite “The Mystery Zone.”

And of course, if you’re in town this weekend and you’re not planning on going to Steropathic Music’s Birds on a Wire music festival here in Pullman, I just feel bad for you because you’re going to miss out. Seriously.

Rocky Votolato, Justin Townes Earle, Damien Jurado, Joe Pug, basically my entire Pandora music catalog, are going to be here, the wheat-swaddled armpit of Eastern Washington.

Why you ask? I have no idea either, but I’m going to be there with bells on.

Of course, that’s not the entire lineup. It’s a two-day music festival, and there are 32 acts in all. However, it is a folk music festival, so if flannel button-ups, indie beards and heartfelt acoustic musings brought to you from a cabin in the wild wood aren’t your thing, that’s cool.

But Spring is in the air, the girls are looking fine, and after that first week back in class, it’s going to be nice to grab a cold beer and listen to some good music.

See you on the streets this weekend – and keep rockin’.

And here's a video of Joe Pug singing one of his best known songs, "Hymn 101," it's sick.



This column originally ran in The Daily Evergreen.