Day After Day #53: The Underdog

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

The Underdog (2007)

There's a problem with being consistently good. If the worst thing you do is perform well, you tend to get underrated. Whenever you do something exceptional, you don't get credit for it because your baseline is so high. That's the case with the band Spoon. They've been so good for so long that they don't get their propers when they exceed expectations. 

Already 12 years into their career, Spoon was making progress in 2005 when their fifth album, Gimme Fiction, was released. It got good reviews, went to #44 on the Billboard 200 and had songs placed in movies and TV shows. It was the springboard for 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, the band's annoyingly named but excellent sixth album. The album entered the charts at #10 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums chart and things were clearly looking up for the Austin band.

A big reason for that upward momentum was the lead single "The Underdog." It was different from any Spoon song that had come before. Punctuated by acoustic guitar and a horn section, the song is pure pop brilliance, with lead singer Britt Daniel warning about how overconfidence and stubbornness can lead to your demise.

"You got no time for the messenger/Got no regard for the thing that you don't understand/You got no fear of the underdog/That's why you will not survive."

"The Underdog" doesn't feel so much like a veteran post-punk act as it does a mid-'70s song from the likes of Paul Simon or Billy Joel. That's not an insult. The sheer craftsmanship of the song is undeniable and it's the reason why the song has ended up in movies such as Cloverfield, 17 Again, Horrible Bosses, Spider-Man: Homecoming and I Love You, Man, as well as numerous commercials.

The song didn't hit the Hot 100 but it did reach #26 on the U.S. Alternative Songs chart. But it did quickly become Spoon's signature song. They played it on Saturday Night Live and the Late Show with David Letterman. The song was produced by Jon Brion, who is known for his work with Aimee Mann and on soundtracks.

Spoon has continued to produce consistently fine albums, with four more releases since 2007, the last being 2022's Lucifer on the Sofa. I saw them on the tour for the 2010 album Transference at House of Blues in Boston; I was struck by the number of older folks at the show until I heard a couple talking about how they heard a story about Spoon on NPR. 

Sometimes a band's lot in life is to be that group that never sucks. There are worse fates.