Have You Seen Spoon Lately?

Where is Spoon? Their seventh studio album, Transference, is edging closer toward its Jan. 19 release date, but outside of one interview and a mysterious album trailer that doesn't really preview the album, they're pretty much off the grid. Britt Daniels recently let slip to the New York Times that the band will be headlining New York's Radio City Music Hall sometime in March, but outside of that and a week long jaunt through Europe in February, there's isn't even a serious tour scheduled. Transference's latest single, "Written in Reverse," doesn't have a video. Why are they shirking the usual buzz building pre-release activities? Maybe they were put off by the unexpected chart success of 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, which was a big hit outside of the usual indie rock circles. An early review describes Transference as a knee jerk retrenchment from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga's poppier sensibilities. Whatever the case may be, they need to get back into the picture. Transference isn't gonna promote itself, and there's only so many Vampire Weekend stories the public can handle.