Dropping A Bomb On Spoon's "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb"
A tipster writing under the condition of anonymity emailed yesterday with a link to some music-analysis muckraking over at Nashville Cream, where the issue is whether Spoon's "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" is too close for comfort to Tennessee band How I Became The Bomb's "Killing Machine" (both presented for MP3 comparison). The crux lies in the intro basslines, and yeah -- they're similar. Is Britt pulling an Avril? Doubt it. The melodies diverge, and bassline retreads are nothing new to indie (see the Blow's "Parenthesis" and Love Is All's "Felt Tip" for a near note-perfect replication). If anything, Britt meant it as a bomb tribute.
Yes, we will always defend Britt.
Posted at 12:16 PM
Tags: Spoon
Has anyone outside of Nahville heard of How I Became The Bomb?
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They have now.
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at least you admit you will swallow anything this band has to offer
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Uh, don't know if anyone with any musical ear has actually listened to both songs, but it's not even not the same bass line, it's not even the same chord progression.
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it also sounds like a classic supremes song
and by that i mean:
song of the year
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Last time I checked, Britt wasn't the bassist in Spoon. Should he be to blame? Or is Spoon a Smashing Pumpkins/singer plays all the insruments in the studio kinda thing?
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you can't own chord progressions so spoon wins.
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"...of whut IIIIIII am"
That dude's voice makes me cringe.
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I hate when people falsely cry plagiarism. There are only seven notes in the major scale. Sometimes songs are going to sound similar. It happens.
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check out the low down on music plagiarism here:
http://www.gelfmagazine.com/archives/picking_up_what_theyre_laying_down.php
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I'm pretty sure Britt writes all the bass parts and in the past has played them too, not sure if he did on this album or not (although who really knows for sure outside of the band/producer?)
That said, I live in Nashville and haven't heard of these toads. Considering Spoon paid that other band that wrote "Don't You Evah" licensing fees, I doubt they would just rip off this other band.
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Please note that noone from HIBTB has cried foul. The songs sound alike, and it's a little eerie. It is possible that both songs are good. Referring to them as "toads" just because someone else's song sounds like theirs when they haven't said shit about it is just stupid. And if you live in Nashville and haven't heard of them, you are sorely detached from Nashville's (quality) music scene. Have fun at muzic mafia mixers, you douche!
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HIBTB is a really good band. They've got some stuff going on in Europe, and I imagine Americans will get to know them soon enough.
Stephen, you live in Nashville but haven't heard of the band? Seriously, try to get out of the house and to a club, maybe read the Nashville Scene from time to time. If you're commenting at Stereogum I assume you follow music to at least some small degree...but not in your own backyard? HIBTB plays all the time. And they're a really fun live band. Any HIBTB show puts to shame that boring corporate gig Spoon played at City Hall a few months back.
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hibtb singer is a fatty
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Glenn, I'm in grad school right now and don't get to go out as much and be as adventurous as I'd like to be. When I do get out it's usually someone I know I'm going to like. Though I do read the Scene quite often, I haven't read about this band... but then, I'm really looking for them either. I've been disappointed in the past by a some of our local bands but maybe I'll give them a shot.
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what does jon burr's weight have to do with chord progressions? he's freaking adorable by the way. the similarities are there, but that's true in a lot of things. publicity is publicity.
p.s. you're doing yourself a great disservice if you live in the nashville area(or the world in general,) and have not heard of the bomb.
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While I enjoy the Bombs record I am sick of their live show which hasn't changed since I saw them play over a year and a half ago. And no one makes fun of John Burr unless you are from Murfreesboro. Oh, and yeah it's unusual, but eerie?? Why eerie??
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If you read the Scene, try checking out Nashville Cream every once in a while. If anything, we get shit over how much we cover How I Became the Bomb (see: Nemesis Boy).
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the HIBTB singer has a weird voice. It's a mix between the XTC guys, Colin Meloy, and some random emo-screamo douchebag
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andrew: no?
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ONCE AGAIN, THESE SONGS SOUND NOTHING ALIKE.
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ohhh. i thought the spoon track was a response to the bratmobile songs "fuck yr. fans" and "cherry bomb". duh!
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I can't believe someone would post a comment to a music blog and admit that they live in Nashville, but have never heard of HIBTB. Total douchery. This furthers my suspicion that there are a lot of vocal critics out there who don't actually keep up with their local scenes, and don't actually go to shows. Bleh.
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hibtb singer is a magician
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Here is my story...
I live in Murfreesboro, home of HIBTB.
Yesterday I purchased the Spoon album.
As I drove down the street the "Cherry Bomb" song came on and I immediately recognized it. I do not have the HIBTB album but I was still able to recognize it from their live show.
I'm not saying Spoon stole the song from HIBTB, I'm only saying it does sound similar. You can't say they sound nothing alike.
Regardless, these are two fabulous bands who deserve a lot of credit for everything they do.
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