With their latest effort, Transference, Austins Spoon have proven themselves to be one of the few late-nineties bands whove managed to hold onto their cred and blow up without ever giving off the feeling of commercial pandering. You could say Britt Daniel and company have achieved indie nirvana: they sell out without selling out. Musically, at their best, Spoon are on par with Wilco, their genre-melding contemporaries, who manage to keep their sound forward-moving while still hanging on to the basic elements which endeared them to their fans in the first place. At their worst, when things get a little too heavy on piano (as exhibited by the 07 track The Underdog), they can sound like a slightly more tolerable Billy Joel. Which, in the universe of Spoon, doesnt seem at all purposeful, just an after-effect of taking yet another melodious risk. With Deerhunter, Micachu & The Shapes. MACHELL DUMA LAVASSAR
Fri., April 9, 6:30 p.m.; Sat., April 10, 6:30 p.m., 2010
