There is a joke: the difference between indie rock and regular rock is that something in an indie rock song always sucks. The singing, the guitar, the recording, some one thing is off in an indie rock tune while the rest of the song rolls along competently. Austin’s Spoon is the corollary; everything is just right in a Spoon song, in almost clinical balance. Spoon’s indieness is manifested in careful restraint. Their latest album Transference improves on the pop vs. indie formulae that made Gimme Fiction (2005) and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007) so immediately appealing. The angularity the band exhibited in their embryonic years informs the near metronomic rhythm section that drives songs like “The Mystery Zone” and “Written in Reverse.” One is tempted to say of either “This should be a hit!” but in a sense they are already hits in terms of impact. The thing is, there is always that warmth, even when it seems it comes from the song’s internal friction. Another place Spoon deflates the indie rock joke is onstage; Spoon is a great live act. Britt Daniels is an effortless frontman, a modern Ric Ocasek, pulling the crowd to him and his band by not exactly reaching out but not shying away either. As the group approaches a perfect equilibrium with the songs, the band exhibits and ever-greater command of their staccato street funk and Daniels has honed his neo-Jagger swagger scalpel sharp, excising the surplus, letting the heart of rock ‘n’ roll throb right there out in the open.

Spoon, Deerhunter, and the Strange Boys appear at the Republic, March 18, 8 p.m. Tickets $18 Advance, $20 door.