Spoon (band)

Spoon is an American rock band from Austin, Texas, consisting of members Britt Daniel (vocals, guitar), Jim Eno (drums), Alex Fischel (keyboards, guitar), Gerardo Larios (guitar, keyboards) and Ben Trokan (bass, keyboards). The band was formed in Austin in October 1993 by Daniel and Eno. Critics have described the band's musical style as rock and roll, post-punk, and art rock.

Spoon released their debut studio album, Telephono, in 1996 through Matador Records. Their next full-length album, A Series of Sneaks, was released in 1998 through Elektra Records. The band subsequently signed with Merge Records, where Spoon achieved greater commercial and critical prominence with the albums Girls Can Tell (2001), Kill the Moonlight (2002), Gimme Fiction (2005), Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007), and Transference (2010). They signed with Loma Vista Recordings and ANTI- for the release of They Want My Soul (2014). The band later returned to Matador to release their ninth album Hot Thoughts (2017), and tenth album Lucifer on the Sofa (2022).

The band was formed in late 1993 by lead singer and 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 krautrock band Can, whose hit song "Spoon" was the theme song to the 1985 movie Jagged Edge (Das Messer) in the United States.

Spoon's first recording was the vinyl release of the EP Nefarious in May 1994. In 1995, the band signed with Matador Records, and Spoon released its first full-length LP Telephono in 1996. The album was met with mixed reviews, with critics comparing their sound to Pavement, 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 the Argo in Denton, Texas, with Ed Cooper and local band Maxine's Radiator, which featured Joshua Zarbo on bass. 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 2006.

After the release of Soft Effects, Spoon signed to Elektra Records and 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 contact 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", which was released by Saddle Creek Records. 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".

Spoon signed with Merge Records and released the Love Ways EP in 2000. The decision was made to do this without bassist Joshua Zarbo, who had briefly left the band. In 2001, Spoon released its third LP entitled Girls Can Tell. The new record was a success, selling more copies than both of their previous LP releases combined. The band's next release in 2002, Kill the Moonlight had similar success. That album's single "The Way We Get By" was popularized by its placement in the movie Stranger than Fiction (released later, in 2006), in an episode of the teen drama The O.C., and on the first episode of the American version of the series Shameless. 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.