Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Label: Merge

Forget the baby-talk title on Spoon’s latest. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a decidedly adult album that shows the band has grown up without growing pains. After more than a decade together, it would’ve been easy to fall into a rut or delve into some seriously misguided experimentation to keep things “fresh.” Instead, we get the best of both worlds, with songs that evoke some of their greatest hits from before while throwing in a bit of the unexpected. Mega-producer Jon Brion even shows up on “The Underdog,” a swinging, horn-tinged track that ends up being one of the album’s best tunes. And while the opener, “Don’t Make Me a Target” couldn’t be mistaken for anyone but Spoon, other tracks like “The Ghost of You Lingers,” featuring some downright eerie layered vocal effects, showing that Britt Daniel and company have mastered putting a new twist on a proven formula. (Kaitlin)