This album kept me off balance, but I think that’s kind of the point.  Spoon’s Transferance is a departure for the band known for its disciplined, regimented delivery.  

Opener “Before Destruction” is an entrancing tune that weaves spare guitar strumming around a steady bass stomp and droning electronic organ layers.  Just when it feels too sparse, this one sneaks up on you.  It’s a good way to whet your appetite for the rest of an album that does a great job to keep you wanting more, never overdoing it.

“Is Love Forever” is a short follow up punch that drives ahead simply, but the recording tricks with some of the vocals feels a little heavy-handed, especially in a song with such tight instrumentation.

“The Mystery Zone” had me admiring the attention to detail that Spoon paid in the production studio.  Carefully executed echoes and fades are around every corner of this one.  This song is a reason why this album is a great candidate for headphone listening.  Spoon even cuts off the ends of sounds, adding to the undertones of unease throughout the album.

“Who Makes Your Money” features a slimmed-down groove with bleeps and blips, and a  smooth bassline.  The vocals reverberate in the chorus with the aid of computer effects.  Nothing outstanding about this one.  “Money” reminded me of some of the numbers on the last few My Morning Jacket albums that frustrated their fans.  Something of a throwaway lounge song with more hiccupy production.

“Written in Reverse” has more balls than the preceding songs combined.  Frontman Britt Daniel is screaming his lyrics out, while a piano hammers and the bass swaggers behind him.  

“I Saw the Light” builds layer upon layer of rapidly strummed guitars to create a tapestry of fuzz before the bottom drops out to reveal nothing but some piano and a 1-2 drum beat.  The instrumental portion drags on a bit long, and the ultra-slowed vocal mumbles serve to do nothing but confuse.  If this was supposed to focus my ears, it had the opposite effect.

“Trouble Comes Running” starts under muffles before bursting into sonic clarity.  Still, the song sounds a little bit like guzzy garage rock.  On an album that sounds as if it were produced by a surgeon, this song is a welcome break.  

“Goodnight Laura” continues the stripped-down sound as a piano-only crooner.  “Out Go the Lights” is a slow reflection on a past relationship, a great song for a night drive, and includes a standard Spoon instrumental section before the final stretch.

“Got Nuffin” drives ahead in the same vein as “Is Love Forever”, but seems willing to experiment a bit more.  The guitar solo stabs in and out from the right and left headphones.  Spoon clips the ends of guitar runs off, and the effect can sometimes be lame, but on this song it feels vibrantly raw.  The abrupt fade-out was odd, however.

“Nobody Gets Me But You” is a minimalist lament over a 4/4 beat interlaced with guitar, beeps, and snippets of applause.  The aesthetic of “less is more” is at work here.

There are times when “Transference” wanders into the mundane or repetitive, but it never lingers there for too long.  This album is a move in a new direction, but can be appreciated on a different level from Spoon’s other work, if the listener is willing to fill in the spaces that Spoon has intentionally left blank.