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10.0
68358
10.0 |
The Digital Fix
With each song different from the last the whole thing is addictively more-ish and full of fascinating turns. A remarkable effort at a time when most bands are content to coast on reputation alone
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9.1
68073
9.1 |
Pretty Much Amazing
The sort of mid-career album promising young bands should aspire to, and long-established acts will come to resent
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8.9
68100
8.9 |
Earbuddy
This is business as usual and Daniels’ and co. are putting to bed any contestation of their status as indie-rock royalty
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8.6
68070
8.6 |
Pitchfork
The quintet's most booming LP, eons ahead of their Pixies-worshipping beginnings and a far cry from the relatively small-scale charm of their early-2000s touchstones Girls Can Tell and Kill the Moonlight
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8.6
68140
8.6 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
Spoon remains a band untethered to trends and narratives, beholden to nothing more than their own indelible sound, something that stretches back decades and remains distinctively elusive. They Want My Soul chases that sound far past anything Spoon have done to date in their careers
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8.5
68290
8.5 |
The Quietus
Focused, tight and impeccably produced. The songwriting is crisp and tight, Daniel's ear for a catchy and upbeat riff have resurfaced
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8.5
68008
8.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Sounds like the best dive bar you’ve ever been to. It’s got the best jukebox, the coolest clientele, and it’ll fight your corner if another album’s giving you grief
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8.3
68025
8.3 |
Consequence Of Sound
A friendly wake-up call from the druggy claustrophobia of 2010’s Transference
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8.3
68088
8.3 |
A.V. Club
They Want My Soul is Spoon psychedelia, a side coaxed out of the typically minimalist act by studio maximalist Dave Fridmann
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8.0
68093
8.0 |
Spin
Soul achieves the nearly impossible with Spoon’s most eclectic set yet
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8.0
68068
8.0 |
musicOMH
Will it win hordes of new fans and catapult them to greater heights? Unlikely. But it sure as hell cements a great band in the annals of indie-rock history
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8.0
68159
8.0 |
Slant Magazine
Spoon has achieved balance in their music, mature enough now as a band to expertly align their trademark raucousness with bouts of sobriety, thoughtfulness, anguish, and what is perhaps a first for the group, contrition
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8.0
68181
8.0 |
All Music
More of a welcome return than a comeback, and too complex to be considered back-to-basics - especially when they reinvent the basics on each album
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8.0
68076
8.0 |
Exclaim
A bold and swaggering declaration that Spoon have undoubtedly still got it — in spades
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8.0
68118
8.0 |
Uncut
The production builds a rich emotional topography for the songs
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8.0
68122
8.0 |
Rolling Stone
Spoon have always done surprisingly well on their own terms, in their own world. And that world sounds bigger and brighter than ever
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8.0
68123
8.0 |
Paste Magazine
Throughout They Want My Soul, the songs flow into and out of each other with a subtle movement that’s hypnotic and sounds deceptively simple
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8.0
68134
8.0 |
No Ripcord
This is Spoon under the management of a major label, though it clearly sends the message that it wants to please on its own terms
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8.0
68033
8.0 |
The Guardian
A beautifully made, multi-layered album
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8.0
68034
8.0 |
The Irish Times
That winning combination of refined funk, indie and innovation makes for an impossibly likeable album
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8.0
68037
8.0 |
Evening Standard
The guitars have an unerring richness and precision, while Britt Daniel’s rasping vocal captures the unique intensity of Spoon
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8.0
68006
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Flits from piano-lead stomp (‘Rainy Taxi’) to reflective organ-flecked peons (‘Outlier’) almost on a whim
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8.0
68016
8.0 |
Q
The sound of a band operating with complete certainty about what they want to achieve. Print edition only
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8.0
68023
8.0 |
FasterLouder
In the end it proves deceptively strong and experimental
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7.5
68249
7.5 |
Beardfood
Spoon's latest takes out voracious guitar licks and replaces it with a firm belief in Britt Daniel's voice
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7.0
68071
7.0 |
PopMatters
It’s another strong record from the band, one that pushes forward in interesting ways while still staying rooted in Spoon’s signature sound
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7.0
68005
7.0 |
The Music
A passable pastiche from a band that has – and still definitely could – do better
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7.0
68009
7.0 |
Clash
The band’s dependable grasp of instantly joyous hooks still shows no sign of deserting them
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7.0
68029
7.0 |
Loud And Quiet
Delivered with impeccable musicianship, sleek production and the kind of enjoyable self-confidence only possessed by a band eight albums into its career
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7.0
68062
7.0 |
Under The Radar
Clearly, those searching for something new are better off looking elsewhere. But if it's dependable melodies and soaring choruses you're after, then They Want My Soul is an album you can count on
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6.0
68038
6.0 |
The FT
Their ‘loudest and gnarliest’ effort to date
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6.0
68060
6.0 |
The Observer
It promises much but never quite delivers
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6.0
68007
6.0 |
DIY
It’s exciting to hear a band so resolutely in their zone, but on the flipside it doesn’t offer anything remotely new
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6.0
68018
6.0 |
Mojo
The Austin alt-rockers are still hungry and searching out new sounds. Print edition only
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4.0
68028
4.0 |
Time Out
A solid, straight-up indie rock record that hardly breaks an inch of new ground
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