Spoon's Latest Is Worth Grabbing a Seat For

Spoon's back and ready to shove you into that disco frame of mind. "Can I Sit Next To You" insinuates itself into your marrow via a dance groove plucked straight out of 1977. What makes it such an infectious head trip to get behind? Well Rob Pope's bass guitar has more than a little to do with it. I'm not saying you need to pull out your vintage Saturday Night Fever garb and shuffle your way through the night but how could you resist the temptation when there's such a mouth-watering framework to step to. It's clap along fun at its best. Just add some buds along with hooch and you've got instant party in the making. The lyric sheet comes complete with various twists and turns sure to make you wonder what kind of lifestyle these guys really lead. Inherently touching are the words "Get the stars out your eyes come and bring them to me. Sort of gives you warm fuzzies like Tinker Bell's pixie dust only with a modern spin placed on it. Lead vocalist Britt Daniels performs his role of devoted boyfriend quite well as gets demonstrated with the lyrics "I walk to Memphis alone 'Cause you'd do it for me." That sort of reciprocity and dedication to it is a rare commodity among humans. If he isn't proud of his chivalry there's something very wrong with his cranium. The language grows more graphic but the story it tells speaks of two young ones galivanting about getting into as much trouble as possible and secretly loving every minute of it. As only Spoon can the band puts across such gems as "All the kicks from the sticks. All the kicks from the sticks. All the hits that we took. All the stitches we got. All our brains so cooked. Oh oh oh." Now that's what I call a busy afternoon. Jim Eno adds just the right amount of pluck on drums to make it look like Britt's not doing the lion's share of the work. Spoon definitely knows what a collaborative effort is all about. As one might expect from a band residing in the home of weirdness that is Austin, "Can I Sit Next To You's" accompanying video takes the craziness angle to an extreme only Spoon could pull off. Someone please give me a language translator if you can figure out what on earth is going on. No doubt Spoon's having a blast with the material. It comes across like snippets from a bad B-movie. The voyeurism factor rises quite high here. The pleasure cruise will have you grinning from ear to ear. "Can I Sit Next To You" doesn't deserve to be relegated to the outcast table since they brought a wonderful soup with them.