Spoon biography
Spoon is an American rock band formed in Austin, Texas. The band is composed of Britt Daniel (vocals, guitar); Jim Eno (drums); Rob Pope (bass, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) and Eric Harvey (keyboard, guitar, percussion, backing vocals).
History
The band was formed in late 1993 by lead singer/guitarist Britt Daniel and drummer Jim Eno, after the two met as members of The Alien Beats. The name Spoon was chosen to honor the 1970s German avant-garde band Can, whose hit song "Spoon" was the theme song to the 1985 movie
Das Messer aka
Jagged Edge in the United States. Eno describes Spoon's music as "rock 'n' roll."
Early years
Spoon's recording debut came with the vinyl release of
Nefarious in May 1994. In 1995 the band signed with Matador Records, and within a year, Spoon released its first full-length LP
Telephono in 1996. The album was met with mixed reviews, with critics often comparing their sound with the likes of Pixies and Wire. But comparisons aside,
Telephono showed signs of a band slipping free of its influences, mixing post-punk with a blend of pop.
Less than a year later, Spoon released its second EP, Soft Effects, which served as a transition to their more distinctive, honed sound. Unlike its predecessors, Soft Effects was less noisy and brash, showcasing a more sophisticated, minimalist approach.
In late 1996, Spoon was playing a gig at Denton, Texas, club the Argo with Ed Cooper and local band called Corn Spoon, for whom Joshua Zarbo was playing bass at the time. Zarbo was invited to audition for Daniel and Eno in 1997, and subsequently became the band's full-time bassist until his permanent departure in 2007.
Major label debut
After the release of
Soft Effects, Spoon signed to Elektra Records in 1998. Through this major label the band released
A Series of Sneaks in May 1998. The album did not sell as well as the label had hoped; merely four months after the release of
Sneaks, Spoon's Elektra A&R man Ron Laffitte quit his job and that week the band was dropped from the label. Angry with Laffitte, who had promised to stick with the band, Spoon recorded a vindictive yet humorously-titled two-song concept single entitled "The Agony of Laffitte." They lamented their experience with the music business executive and questioned his motivations with the songs "The Agony of Laffitte" and "Laffitte Don't Fail Me Now."
Commercial success
Spoon signed with the indie rock label Merge Records and released the
Love Ways EP in 2000. In 2001, Spoon released its third LP entitled
Girls Can Tell. The new record was a success, selling more copies than both their previous LP releases combined. The band's next release in 2002,
Kill the Moonlight saw similar success. Their next album,
Gimme Fiction, was released in May 2005, and debuted at number 44 on the
Billboard 200, selling more than 160,000 copies.
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