The Hardest Cut

Why listen

Spoon wanted Lucifer on the Sofa to feel like a live album, and Mark Rankin's production delivers. Rollicking bass, crunchy guitars, a snappy rhythm section, and cool, reserved vocals, all with plenty of space. It works on a car radio or a $10,000 stereo, and there's a lot of meat on the bone if you listen closely.

Listen for

• 0:00An off-mic count, then fuzzed-out guitars at a low boil about three seconds in
• 1:08Everything drops out on "cut" for a tenth of a second, so you hear the reverb on the vocal
• 2:26A squeak on the guitar strings just before the rockabilly solo