No. 38: Britt Daniel Beats The Odds
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.
