Monday 25 May 2009
You go on ahead
(photo: David Horvitz)
It has surprised me how much I have increasingly liked each Sunset Rubdown album, seeing as that, Wolf Parade-edly speaking–I like Dan Boeckner more than Spencer Krug. I don’t know the guys personally, so it’s not a personality thing. I prefer Dan’s songs to Spence’s, I guess. Still, Krug’s output (first as a solo act and then with band proper) under the Sunset Rubdown moniker never fails to draw me in. Their latest, Dragonslayer, is their best yet, eschewing the studio effects of the last album (2007′s Random Spirit Lover) for an honest, direct approach that captures the band live in studio, bumps and all.
It’s this natural recording process that gives these eight songs a vitality and spark that was lacking on previous efforts. Though Krug’s skewed sensibilities are still intact, these are probably some of the most direct pop songs he’s written for Sunset Rubdown. Still, as the Jagjaguwar one sheet for the album states, “the true strength of this new album is a hidden complexity that emerges slowly from within the straight production and raw musicianship.” Bang on. Songs like album closer “Dragon’s Lair” twist and turn entwining thorn bushes, while the unwieldy titled “Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!” sounds like three songs in one, seamlessly blended together.
It may seem like you need a scorecard to keep track of Krug and Boeckner’s various activities in and out of Wolf Parade, but based on the strength of these songs, I’ll be looking forward to Krug’s contributions to Wolf Parade #3.
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