Too bad the person who makes a surprise appearance at the end of the video for No. 38 didn’t enjoy a similar fate.
Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was one of those rare breeds in the blog-hype-OMG-right-now world of 2007–it was a grower, an album that got steadily better with each listen. “The Underdog” is the album’s clear pop standout, a loose-limbed jam that steadily builds with each added handclap and horn break as Daniel’s ragged voice leads the way until the whole thing screeches to a halt. (And the video, which uses the one-shot technique that I’m such a sucker for, mirrors the music’s slow burn, complete with stunner at the end.) Really, this song is just another piece of evidence that Daniel should pen a “Hey, I’m out of retirement” album for Billy Joel, although something tells me that the Bard of Hicksville wouldn’t be so pleased by being put in his place by an upstart Texan.
see, I didn’t hear the album as a grower at all–it was pretty immediately great, and stayed that way.
Um…so can I ask who is that at the end of the video, then?
Clearly that was William Beckett running through the halls at the end of the video…
…wait, you’re telling me that was a woman…ohhhhh
i definitely had the ‘grower’ experience with this one; the more i picked up on the insane production techniques, the more i started to fall in love with it.
I’d refine your “grower” concept and say the album was almost a single-by-single, cry “uncle” kind of record: It made little impression on me upon release, but as every other song on the damn thing started popping up on blogs I read and TV shows I watch, and I realized each one was really effin’ good, I came to appreciate the album almost piecemeal.
Album of The Year.
this one and the queens of the stone age were both totally slow (groove) burners from bands i already loved.
Has Queens been showing up on any of the lists? That’s a damn good album. Not their best, bu damn fine.
I wish I didn’t like their songs so much, since I find Britt’s stage presence inexplicably irritating and douchey. I guess I’ll just make do with the CDs, which are catchy.
This song got annoyingly overplayed, much like Feist’s “1234.” “Black Like Me” is such a better song off this album.
I’m with Matos on this one — it was awesome from first listen.
I need the Annotated Guide to ‘The Underdog’ Video, or something like that, to identify all the cameos.
I’ve always found this band to be bland and bar rockish…
Is the “stunner” you’re referring to the Daniel Handler/Lemony Snicket cameo at the 2:31 mark?
I think it was Meatloaf walking around in the suit.
Great song, great album — and an easy pick for my top ten of the year in either category.