Spoons
Stick Figure Neighbourhood
Ready Records, 1981
Arias & Symphonies
Ready Records, 1982
By Sal Hassanpour
Canadian new wave was a pretty shallow pool. Martha And The Muffins, Men Without Hats, Gowan and yes, Rush were the cream of the crop in the field. Burlington, Ontario’s Spoons, stuck in a state of perpetual rediscovery, were always just a notch shy from receiving the kind of acclaim the above have or had enjoyed and remain best-known for the “Nova Heart” music video which was, production-wise, one of the best at the time from a Canadian band.
Their first album, Stick Figure Neighbourhood, misfires as often as it hits its mark, the mark being a synth-enhanced update of late 70s, time-signature shifting prog-rock. Songs are either trying to be cynical, odd and witty like Devo or Adam and The Ants in the titular track and “Dropped Dishes” (failing for the most part) or trying to be topical, as in “Friends In The Media” and “Capitol Hill” (faring better at these). Unfotunately, lead singer/guitarist Gordon Deppe’s lyrics are mostly fluff and at worst, on “Red Light” are simply excruciating: “Red light/Free man’s world/Green liiiiiiiight/Woman/WOMAN!!” Rob Preuss’ synths are really good, however, and there are some nice melodies, especially on the eurotrashtic “For Tran” that remind me of the Mega Man 3 soundtrack – albeit slowed down.
In sum, Stick Figure Neighbourhood is a disappointment and its obscurity is somewhat deserved, frankly. Fun trivia fact: While Graeme Pole produced it, Stick Figure Neighbourhood was one of the first albums to be recorded at Grant Avenue Studios in Hamilton by its founder, a certain Dan Lanois.
Arias & Symphonies is the one most people know Spoons by. In fact, it’s impossible to mention this album without referring to the title track or the aforementioned “Nova Heart,” the two big Spoons singles. But for now, I’ll try.
No sophomore slump here, kids. One of the first things one notices is that the lyrics are much more well-written and there’s none of that half-sung, half-spoken, “I’m so cynical and clever” vocal delivery that plagued album one. Musically, everything is faster and there’s always an electronic beat driving things further. This means very little of the Stick Figure Neighbourhood guitar solos that would have Daft Punk salivating actually carry over, but there are more pop hooks, like the sweet melody that makes up the chorus on the delightfully over-the-top “Arias & Symphonies.”
Meanwhile, the guitar on “South American Vacation” doesn’t sound too far removed from the sorely-missed John McGouch’s work, and around the same time, bassist Sandy Horne gets to sing more than a chorus line, best demonstrated by the convincing duet on “One In Ten Words”. The microscopic synth bubbles gurgling in the background of the otherwise loud “Walk The Plank” reminds one of “The Reflex”-era Duran Duran, if only for a couple of moments, and a stately synth melody on final track “Blow Away” – the only one with a time-signature shift here – casts Arias & Symphonies into the stratosphere. Phew.
Recorded in London and Toronto, John Punter’s production suffers somewhat from a throw-everything-at-the-wall mentality and is a bit overstuffed as a result – except for the subtle handclaps and bass synth stabs on “Nova Heart” that offers some reverb-drenched respite – but is nevertheless overdue for a remaster.
Spoons would go on to even bigger things: Their next album, Talkback, was actually even more successful and produced by legendary producer Nile Rodgers to boot, but that’s for another week (maybe the next time MONDOmusic reviews something Spoons-related?)
