TS: Spoon vs Trail of Dead

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This could be sort of interesting. Same hometown (Austin), sameish audience, they're contemporaries... And they leave me similarly cold for some reason. Anyhoo I like my _Soft Effects_ EP more than either _Madonna_ or _Source Tags and Codes_ and yet I think _Telefono_ is crap but still Spoon wins.

― Aaron A., Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:55 (twenty years ago)

Not a big fan of either... but based on the albums released this year, Spoon may as well be the greatest band on earth.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:57 (twenty years ago)

(read: new TOD lp sucks out loud)

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Thursday, 17 February 2005 18:57 (twenty years ago)

saw TOD on letterman or conan - can't remember. they were horrible! and I loved source tags and codes. listened to it over and over.

spoon - don't have albums, but I have always liked the sound. they're so different, though.

― sculley mulder (ilkshake), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:02 (twenty years ago)

enormous fan of both. 'Source Tags...' is by far the best thing that either has done, but Spoon has the edge for consistency. and i worry for the future of ToD - new album isn't bad but...what is it? whereas new Spoon is quality.

― fsharp (fsharp), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:12 (twenty years ago)

Neither: I Love You But You Have Chosen Darkness.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:17 (twenty years ago)

Spoon by a huge margin. But I do like that song "Source Tags & Codes" a lot.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:18 (twenty years ago)

I've always liked Britt Daniel as a vocalist and as a frontman, not so much on both counts for Conrad Keely.

― alex in montreal, Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:20 (twenty years ago)

Spoon wins easily. I liked "Source Tags" OK, but Conrad Keely is an idiot and has kind of ruined that album for me via interviews and such.

― darin (darin), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:22 (twenty years ago)

Spoon: my favorite rock band

TOD: no thanks.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:24 (twenty years ago)

Next on Taking Sides: The Strokes v. Muse - both are revered by the NME, both bands feature male lead singers, both bands use guitars, both write lyrics in English. Really, other than the fact that THEY SOUND NOTHING ALIKE, they could be the same freakin' band.

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:30 (twenty years ago)

spoon are good on their own terms. but even if trail of dead were better they pointlessly have 2 drummers. laaame.

― f--gg (gcannon), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:45 (twenty years ago)

EASY. Spoon has put out at least three great records (I don't care for that first Merge one), ToD has put out 0 great records.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:46 (twenty years ago)

shit, Muse and the Strokes do sound exactly the same! i guess it was there all the time, but i just needed someone to point it out.

actually, i wish they did sound exactly the same - both of them like some other band.

― fsharp (fsharp), Thursday, 17 February 2005 19:48 (twenty years ago)

I think TOD's 2 drummer action is fine, at least from what I used to know. conrad had a style with these great little nuances, and jason had a "my god will he die on that drumstool" ferocity.

― sculley mulder (ilkshake), Thursday, 17 February 2005 20:21 (twenty years ago)

it's 2 drummers simultaneously now - Conrad or Jason, plus new guy. i thought it worked pretty well, depth rather than overkill. ToD remain one of the best live shows around, one drummer or two.

― fsharp (fsharp), Thursday, 17 February 2005 20:29 (twenty years ago)

ToD for tryin. and for "ST&C's".
spoon for...uh...not?

ToD win by landslide victory due to "Madonna/ST&C".

lose points for "World's Apart" being horribly 1/2assed.

i have only heard the last spoon album and seen them live. judging by that, i can NOT go with them.

― eedd, Thursday, 17 February 2005 22:33 (twenty years ago)

Despite what some freaks say, the first two Spoon albums are way better than the newer stuff.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 17 February 2005 22:35 (twenty years ago)

Despite what some freaks say, the first two Spoon albums are way better than the newer stuff.

i like your style, but i think you might be wrong on this one. Sneaks you maybe could argue, but Telephono? reeeeally?

― fsharp (fsharp), Thursday, 17 February 2005 22:37 (twenty years ago)

I think so! C'mon, "Government Darling"? "Nefarious"? "All the Negatives Have Been Destroyed"? "Plastic Mylar"? SO MANY GOOD SONGS!

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 17 February 2005 22:53 (twenty years ago)

gygax: dont you mean I Love You But I've Chosen Dorkness?

well, thats what i hear the kids in austin call them.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Thursday, 17 February 2005 22:54 (twenty years ago)

ha, i was just re-evaluating, skipping thru tracks in case you maybe had a point, and i thought to myself - 'nah, only three good tracks'. guess which - the first three you listed!

govt. darling is one of my all time fave Spoon songs, but it is the only one of the album that i would put on a Spoon comp (there is defintely a thread in that...)

― fsharp (fsharp), Thursday, 17 February 2005 22:56 (twenty years ago)

Sorry Nick, I don't buy it. That's okay though, as I've noticed a trend where people actually in indie bands have an unhealthy love for the first two Spoon albums, while normal people like the later ones. Can't explain it.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 17 February 2005 23:20 (twenty years ago)

Spoon = timelessness and longevity in QUALITY.
ToD = passion and RAWK, but wandering quickly into self-parody.
Winner = Spoon.

― PiersT, Thursday, 17 February 2005 23:25 (twenty years ago)

I think it's more about when you got into Spoon. Telephono was the first Spoon album I heard, so it holds a warm place in my heart. In contrast, Girls Can Tell sounds kind of wimpy, emo, and lifeless, and there's that one song that sounds like Everclear. Ecccch. But I listened to Telephono again this morning and I think I can still say objectively that it's an awesome album. I listed my faves above, but I think there are only a couple of dud tracks on the whole thing. The only gripe I can imagine others having is the production, which isn't fantastic. But other than that, I'm lost as to the Telephono-disdain. I do think SoS is better (other than 30 Gallon Tank, which is a terrible song), but Telephono runs a close second, then Kill the Moonlight, and far behind is Girls Can Tell.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 18 February 2005 16:53 (twenty years ago)

Trail of Dead were one of the worst live shows I have ever seen.

So, my vote's with Spoon.

― cdwill, Friday, 18 February 2005 17:21 (twenty years ago)

gygax: dont you mean I Love You But I've Chosen Dorkness?

well, thats what i hear the kids in austin call them.

YES!

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 18 February 2005 17:45 (twenty years ago)

TS: I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness v. Palaxy Tracks

― steve austin, Friday, 18 February 2005 17:47 (twenty years ago)

The new TOD album is godlikegenius. It's miles better than st&c which is probably their most inconsistent album so far. It takes a while to get into the new one though...

Spoon rule also.

― FACEBRACE, Friday, 18 February 2005 17:58 (twenty years ago)

Oh jesus, Spoon by about a million miles. Telephono has some pretty good songs, Soft Effects is totally classic all the way through, and Series of Sneaks is one of those almost perfect little albums...relentlessly tuneful, simple, aggressive, great. The stuff after that isn't bad (save for KTM, which I don't like much), but it often goes too far into that boring "adult" keyboard indie rock sound which = boh-ring, although pretty popular as these things go.

ToD leave me pretty cool, although I like a song here and there and thought ST&C was a solid album. The new one is horrible.

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Friday, 18 February 2005 19:14 (twenty years ago)

TS: I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness v. Palaxy Tracks

palaxy tracks, hands down. that band is so good.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Friday, 18 February 2005 19:31 (twenty years ago)

Spoon.

"Waiting For The Kid To Come Out"

Game, set, match.

― d.w. (d.w.), Friday, 18 February 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

"It's miles better than st&c which is probably their most inconsistent album so far."

you, sir, are an idiot.

― eedd, Friday, 18 February 2005 22:16 (twenty years ago)

if this was a year ago and i hadn't heard anything of worlds apart it would be a definate trail of dead. source tags and codes still blows my mind in now way that my spoon records could. i still haven't heard anything off of the new spoon album except a demo, but it is still great. so right now, spoon, a year ago, trail of dead.

― j-dizzle, Friday, 18 February 2005 22:32 (twenty years ago)

eighteen years pass...

Britt Daniel did guest vocals on a track on their last album. Also they broke up?!?! (see other thread)

― behold the thump (ledge), Thursday, 5 October 2023 09:13 (two years ago)

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