Spencer Krug (of Wolf Parade) brought his side project on tour to support the release of his debut LP, Shut Up I am Dreaming. Sunset Rubdown began as what appeared to be little more than Krug fooling around with a 4-track in his bedroom. His Snakes Got a Leg EP was an overly lo-fi offering that failed to promote his skills as a both a musician and songwriter. He quickly graduated to the more produced Sunset Rubdown EP which featured more layers of instrumentation than the fuzzed out keyboards of the earlier release. Sunset Rubdown has now flowered into a full on band with the release of the new LP and current tour. Angular guitars (not so different from Dan Boeckner’s of Wolf Parade) now counterpoint Krug’s keys and vocal whelps.
The second of two shows at the Mercury Lounge, they opened the night with a spirited cover of Sinead O’Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’. Not long into the set, Spencer admitted that he had gotten food poisoning the day before and was in pretty rough shape. I’m guessing he may have cut a song or two out of the set, but I still thought the band sounded great (photos here). Spencer’s songs were always my favorite Wolf Parade songs, and after seeing the ‘derivative’ Film School the night before, it was great to hear someone that is truly original. I have to question what’s really going on with Sunset Rubdown. As it’s developed more and more into a full band (and actually sounding a lot more like Wolf Parade), I’m wondering what’s in store for the future. I always qualified Spencer’s EP’s as ‘experimenting’…an outlet for ideas that he can’t do within the framework of Wolf Parade. It will be interesting to see what the success of Sunset Rubdown does indeed mean for Wolf Parade, and if they can, in fact, coexist. For right now, I’ll take all the Spencer Krug I can get.
i would peg the developing relationship between the two as similar to Pavement and what began as the side project The Silver Jews. while the existence of “the other” may not in fact cause the breakup, it is perhaps indicative of Krug’s intent to continue to develop musically outside of Wolf Parade.
yeah, what i was trying to get at, and not sure I articulated, is that the “development” of Sunset Rubdown is moving closer and closer to Wolf Parade. What I saw originally as another creative outlet for Krug, seems to be evolving into what could be read as a statement about the ‘genius’ behind Wolf Parade. I’m probably reading too much into it, and I don’t want to infer that Krug is some kind of egomaniac. Of course Krug is an integral part of both bands and their should be some overlap, but I guess it is the evolution of the ’supporting parts’(namely guitar) that bring the style more towards Broekner’s playing. As we discussed in the Film School thread, this could be taken in a myriad of other directions. I don’t think Wolf Parade is dead, either. I always thought that Sunset Rubdown (listening to their ep’s and record) was kind of all over the place and somewhat ‘inaccessible’….hearing the live show changed that for me. It was a very cohesive and interesting set that would probably draw more than alienate. I think this is what could pose an interesting dilemma for Spencer Krug. Ultimately, it will probably only help Wolf Parade (you could draw some comparisons to Postal Service helping promote DCFC’s rise)
I also keep coming back to Alec Ounsworth (solo) vs. Clap Your Hands….here’s a guy that just has so many songs flying around in his head, one band/sound simply isn’t enough to capture them. (by the way i’m catching Alec live at Joe’s Pub next month, which should be a great show. it’s the perfect venue for him)
The Bowery Ballroom just announced two shows by Sunset Rubdown in September!