That's actually how I described it to a few people, and though my opinion of the album has changed quite a bit since then, I think it remains pretty valid.
Like that track, this album simmers and rolls along but never really explodes. It's full of weird, subtle production touches and songs that just seem to hover, linger, and vanish, without taking off like you expect them to.
Initially, I wasn't too taken with it. I love Spoon- and have for years- and while there wasn't anything I could point to specifically, I was just pretty meh about the whole thing. There wasn't any song that was particularly standing out to me, and I found some of the lyrics a bit silly, especially the opening to 'Written in Reverse' a bit silly: "I'm writing this to you in reverse / Someone better call a hearse."
But...I kept wanting to hear the CD again, and seeking it out on the net when I could. 'Got Nuffin' and 'Who Makes Your Money' proved to be quite the unsuspecting earworms, and the albums closer 'Nobody Gets Me But You' has firmly grounded itself in my brain.With a few weeks to listen to it, I can say that's it's grown on me massively. It's a stronger CD as a whole then 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga,' though nearly it's polar opposite. That was a like a string of unrelated but solid, poppy songs- and this is probably their most cohesive CD ever.
You get the sense, though, from listening to this CD, that this is exactly the album they wanted to make. Everything about it feels sincere, feels like it came together just as they wanted. Like Hot Chips also just released 'One Life Stand,' 'Transference' is a bit of a gamble- that succeeds both because of the talent of the band involved, and how wholly they invest themselves in the new direction they're taking.