The Colby Echo

Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Courtesy of amazon.com Random Spirit of Sunset Rubdown

Pop Quiz! Don't worry. It's multiple choice. You'll be fine.
What is Spencer Krug's favorite animal? a) frog b) wolf c) swan. I know, this is hard. Frogs are cute and slimy. Swans are graceful and pretty and what-not, and wolves can tear off all your limbs, causing significant loss of blood. But do not be deterred by fear. Wolf Parade is Spencer Krug's most successful band to date. Its 2005 debut Apologies To The Queen Mary earned it a spot in the legislature of indie-rock. Released on Sub Pop, recorded by Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse, and on tour opening for The Arcade Fire, it had the perfect formula. How could you not love the original and fun, yet gentle sound of Wolf Parade? (Yes, gentle, no biting and no blood involved).

If you guessed frog, you're not far off. Frog Eyes is a project fronted by Casey Mercer, a man from whom Krug learned many vocal skills. Krug and Mercer have collaborated under Frog Eyes, and together they created a side project called Swan Lake.

But, Spencer Krug's most recent development is the group Sunset Rubdown whose first album, Shut Up I'm Dreaming, was released in 2006. Sunset Rubdown is the ultimate collaborative project. Krug matches up with Dan Bejar from Destroyer and The New Pornographers, and members of Hot Hot Heat. This multi-influence indie-rock, folk, electro-blues, technology blend can't really be labeled as anything at all. Every song has a different structure, different orchestra, different compositional approach, but they all maintain the same tone.

Can I describe this tone? In short, no, not really at all. Do I enjoy this tone? Yes, strangely very much so. In fact, I have not encountered many people who do not enjoy Sunset Rubdown. Random Spirit Lover is just this- an unexplainable mess of sound and vocals. The lyrics, while I often cannot make sense of their overall context, are fun to hear. The poetry talks a lot about the sun. It maintains a rhyme scheme, providing structure to melodic contour and rhythm. The songs do not really have choruses, although there's often a line that gets repeated. When this happens lyrically, the repeated section is presented differently the second time around, keeping you on your toes. The harmonies go in and out of Dracula theme songs and playful carnival tunes. I can't really compare Krug's vocals to anyone else. His voice is disconnected from the music, but is also used like another instrument. How one accomplishes that, I don't know.

My favorite tracks are "The Mending of The Gown," a song with heavy piano fueling the song's motion. "Winged-Wicked Things," is a ballade-like waltz that reflects on the meaning of things. Perhaps my favorite is "Up On Your Leapord" with choruses easy to sing along to "Oh oh oh." Who can't enjoy that? The keyboard-organ creates a churchlike sound, or perhaps Irish jig, or parade marching music. Lyrics like: "You're the one who ran in the wild 'cause/ You're the one the wild called/ And you're the one who followed the child/ To save the sun from how it falls." Because of the syntax and rhyme scheme, and how the text is set to the music, it comes off as almost playful. But they are actually quite interesting to listen to.

Random Spirit Lovers is quite a random spirit, filled with layers upon layers upon layers, music so perplexingly dense that I can't even describe it. All I can say is check it out.

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