Concrete Playground

Spoon are a great band. I won't try to hide that I'm a fan. In fact, just then I was visiting their website and got sucked into completing my Spoon collection, buying their first four albums bundled with live videos.

Their whole aesthetic and sound oozes a laissez-faire attitude whilst at the same time paying attention to minute detail. They make pop records that are stripped back to bare bones sounds and hooks — they're one of those bands that you think more people should love, that sometimes you have to play to people and they have a slow expression of recognition which turns into a smile and then "oh, I know this song! Yeah I know Spoon". You would play them 'The Underdog', 'I Turn My Camera On', and their biggest hit here in Australia 'The Way We Get By' (bonus points for Britt Daniel's use of the word 'taciturn' — kudos).

On their newie Transference they have dropped some of the studio trickery and experimentation in favour of stark production that lets the songs shine through clearly. Check out the clip for single 'Written In Reverse' in which the band perform live; it will give you a nice teaser for their sideshows in May. I'm excited.

Tickets go on sale February 16.