RB: DLC 06/01/10 – Spoon’s Rock Band Debut (plus P.O.D.)

This Tuesday will mark the Rock Band debut of one of my favourite indie bands, Spoon!  Harmonix is bringing four tracks from this excellent band to the game, plus a track from Christian metal band P.O.D..

Available on June 1, 2010

• Spoon - I Turn My Camera On
• Spoon - Don’t You Evah
• Spoon - Got Nuffin
• Spoon - Trouble Comes Running
• P.O.D. – Alive

Spoon has been a very popular band in the indie music scene since their first album, 1996′s Telefono, and the band acheived moderate success in the mainstream with the release of 2005′s Gimme Fiction.  Many of the songs from Gimme Fiction and their previous Kill the Moonlight were re-written as instrumental versions for the soundtrack to the excellent Stranger than Fiction starring Will Farrell.  Their sound has been connected to many other mediums; Spoon’s music has been featured on countless TV shows (like Chuck, Smallville, Scrubs, and How I Met Your Mother to name a few), several blockbuster movies (among them are Cloverfield, 17 again, and I Love You, Man) and a handfull of videogame soundtracks (like Matt Hoffman’s BMX and Madden 2009).   I’ve had selections from their various albums on my mp3 player for years, they are definitely one of my favourite bands of the new millennium.

“I Turn My Camera On” has falsetto-style vocals for much of the song, and I believe it’s very reminicent of the band Scissor Sisters.  It’s instantly catchy, simple, melodic and fun to listen to.  Quite a few of Spoon’s songs feature keyboards as a lead instrument–which begs the question, can we expect more from Spoon in Rock Band 3?  I think this is highly likely given the recent rumors of a new keyboard perhiperal.  2002′s “The Way We Get By” would be an excellent song to transcribe to Rock Band 3′s keyboards.

P.O.D.’s “Alive” was nominated for a grammy, and was definietly the band’s most popular song.  I’ll admit that I was not certain that I’d heard the band before, but a quick listen of the song showed me that I had; it’s uplifting certainly, but it is fairly forgettable.   It’s notable mostly for the vocals, and the sound reminds me of the bands Incubus or early Papa Roach.

Next Week’s Predictions:  followup tracks from RB alumni Hot Hot Heat, Against Me! and Iggy Pop.