Spencer Krug’s brilliantly knotty Sunset Rubdown project is getting so shaggy ‘n’ complex, it’s easy to wake up and forget “I’ll Believe In Anything” ever existed. Yeah, overstatement, but damn if album the third Random Spirit Lover isn’t an eccentric bit of pop perfection: Across the dozen tracks, songs empty into one another, lyrics about bloodsuckers, lust, and courtesans are echoed or hidden beneath huge flourishes, and shouted, melodramatic melodies return like old friends. If you’re not paying attention, it’s like one shimmering piece of stained glass, only vaguely demarcated by faint moments of pause.
We’ve spent quite a few caffeinated deep-listening sessions with Random Spirit, but are still at work unraveling its complex geometry, all these densities. We called “Up On Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days” “epic, arpeggiated with tinkling glockenspiels, a proggy jig,” featuring “Spencer’s madcap, cackling melodicism, and an outro that will melt every club it sees this fall”. We stand by those words, boss, and that’s just one shard of the overall picture. You may remember a live, wax-burnt “Winged/Wicked Things” from the 2006 Daytrotter Session — it’s in there, but bigger. We also can’t get enough of opener “The Mending of the Gown,” both “Vs.” tunes, the entire bizarrely mellow, extra piano-rich middle section of the album, “For the Pier (and Dead Shimmering)”‘s three-ring two-step power balladeering, and the bombastic squall of “Trumpet, Trumpet, Toot! Toot!,” etc. Oh, itty-bitty closer “Child-Heart Losers” might just include the sweetest, most mannered pickup line of the year: “Where’d you learn to stage dive with such grace?” Sigh.
Does it top Shut Up I Am Dreaming? It’s close. But we’re worried: Spencer, where the hell do you go next? Dude’s got the Midas touch.
Random Spirit Lover is out 10/9 on Jagjaguwar. Catch the travelling circus live this October….
10/07 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs
10/08 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
10/09 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
10/10 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
10/11 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
10/12 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
10/13 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn
10/15 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
10/16 – Austin, TX @ Emo?s
10/18 – Tuscon, AZ @ Solar Culture Gallery
10/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
10/21 – San Francisco, CA @ Independent
10/23 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
10/24- Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Cafe
10/25 – Vancouver, BC @ Plaza Club
10/26 – Victoria, BC @ Logans
10/28 – Calgary, Alberta @ Broken City
10/29 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Velvet Underground
10/30 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan @ Amigos
10/31 – Winnipeg, Manitoba @ Royal Albert Arms
11/01 – Fargo, ND @ Aquarium
11/02 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
11/03 – Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
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It’s a bizarre little work though, isn’t it? You can’t go into it as a soundtrack to driving to the beach… You need to sit down, shut up and actually listen to it. I’m still absorbing it but I fear it’ll never seep into the ADD set, waiting for a freakout that comes on later than expected…
DwD
I think that’s a slightly outdated tour list, as I know they’re playing Chicago Nov. 3.
Unless you just didn’t want to list anything after Oct. 28th for some reason.
Great record, BTW.
This one tops my list of releases for the year so far. What a beautiful piece of very focused work from Spencer. Random Spirit Lover definitely feels like more of a complete album than Shut Up/Dreaming…great transitions, and so complex. While there are a bunch of immediate standouts, the “Colt Stands Up, Grows Horns”/”Stallion” section is some of his best work.
Hmmm, I can’t help but think it sounds like every other Montreal-influenced band that involves members from Wolf Parade.
you’re right, Sean. our tour schedule was smeared … those other dates have been added.
No TO date? Mending of the Gown is insanely good, I can’t stop playing it.
RSL is good, but not THAT good. It’s pretty cluttered and messy in a lot of places.
october 15th…
i’ve got my panties in a bunch just thinking about it
ooooh!
First of all, I have always been very critical of sunset rubdown…
It took quite a few listens, but I really think that RSL is far superior than Shut Up…
The songs are so much more realized and thoughtful. It’s more complex and way bigger.
It gets higher and higher on the end of the year list with every listen. A beautiful album.
This album is incredible. I have not been able to listen to anything else for like two weeks. My favorite songs are Mending of the gown, Magic v. midas, up on your leopard, taming of the hand, trumpet trumpet. god, the whole thing is just fucking incredible.
to above poster – where is it messy? I feel like every note, every piece of the album serves a calculated purpose. The album may be chaotic – but thats intentional and effective. The album jumps around a lot, but don’t mistake that with messy. The more you listen to it, the more the album really, really makes sense.
does anyone else feel like this is one of the best albums of the decade?
No, Korn’s Follow the Leader is the best album of the decade.
This album seems like it should be fantastic for sitting down with to work on illustrations. Woo, comic art making soundtrack! It’s always quite the boon to find a brilliant long-player.
I really am looking forward to seeing these guys at the Crocodile, terrific drinkin’ music.
And to the above poster – MC Paul Barman’s “Paullelujah!” was clearly the album of the decade.
no dude
the album of the decade is the unquestionable truth pt. 1
for realz
Um, fellas the album of the decade is Chinese Democracy by GnR…..we just dont know which decade it will be
the mending of the gown is epic! this record is completely amazing!
ALBUM OF THE YEAR!
the whole thing is brilliant, sheer genius, perfect! my prediction is Pitchfork will give it a 10 and it will become as classic as In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (at least it should).
w/ johnny and the moon this will be the best tour this fall > Animal collective
Album of the Year!? What else do you all listen to? You have some sheltered ears to be thinking Sunset Rubdown created an album of the year. By the logic, so did The Shins, Arcade Fire, CYHSY, and the slew of indie one-trick ponies that had a release this year.
I haven’t heard the album yet, but I just have to say something. Spencer Krug is NOT a one-trick ponie. Perhaps you’re “sheltered ears” have not been paying attention to all the heritics you’ve been magnanimously trying to burn. Just because a band has it’s own sound does not make them a one trick ponie. Someone that can musically express every emotion in the human vocabulary and do so in chaos or beauty, fast or slow, with friends and alone, live and on record, and everytime still sound absolutely like themselves and no one else – That’s called Art. That’s called creating something that no one has before and having the ability to do it again, and again, and again. Several times a year in Spencers case. the guy needs some mad respect.
this album is unreal. spencer krug is king.
Your logic sucks. Sunset Rubdown have a helluva lot more creativity than The Shins, and their arrangements are far superior to CYHSY.
creativity and originality does not a great album make.
Is Spencer Krug even human?
Just from reading these comments as well as blogs and things from elsewhere, there seems to be a clear division among people that have heard this album: those who recognize that it is one of the greatest things that has happened to music in the past several years, and those who have not quite listened to it enough for it to fully ‘click’ in that regard.
This album has that indefinable characteristic that all great albums have. Maybe moreso than any album (other than like OK Computer/Kid A/Amnesiac) listening to Random Spirit Lover really feels like a journey to another world.
For me, when I started listening to the album I definitely enjoyed it and was intrigued by it, so I continued to listen. I could tell it was complex and unlike anything I had heard, but I knew I didn’t quite get it. Something happened around listen 12, though, and each song just started coming to life for me. You HAVE to give this album a chance to set in. You can’t judge it on less than 10 listens. And as the Evaluation said – they need to be listens that get your undivided attention. It is not background music.
Those of you who dismiss this as just another ‘Indie rock fad’ are sorely mistaken. This is one of the most complete and impressive albums of this generation.
I second Paullelujah for album of the decade.
I’m curious, Justin: what would YOU consider album of the year material?
As for this album, I’m waiting its release with even greater antecipation now! Shut Up I Am Dreaming blew me away when it really sank it, I can’t for this album to do the same.
the track streaming here sounds a bit like ‘nursery cryme’ era genesis. i don’t mean that in an insulting way; i like ‘nursery cryme’. is spencer krug the new peter gabriel?
There have been so many highlights for me this year: Hissing Fauna, Challengers, Fear Of A Blank Planet, GaGaGaGaGa, Neon Bible… While I can’t say RSL tops them, I can say it sits comfortably with them.
DwD
As there are a couple years left until 2010, I do think it may be a little early to call this album the Best of the Decade. I however would gladly preemptively place it in the top ten. And I agree with earlier comments that to dismiss this album without giving it several focused listens is a disservice to yourself. This is one of those “complete” albums that so many artists strive to make and so few succeed at. With this album Krug really comes into his own. I’d say he’s set himself on track to settle himself at the end of the day with the likes of Bowie, the Beatles and Radiohead. I’m sure there are those that will disagree. But mark my words, kids. Krug is the future. This album will go down in the annals of time as one of the greats of the early 21st century.
Spencer Krug is without a doubt, the very finest songwriter in the entire world and probably has been in that position for the past two years. I believe he is literally a genius. He seems to split people, but the people who are into him are REALLY into him. He’s building a considerable cult around him these days. I can’t even believe this man is a real live human being. Maybe he’s not…
This is a great album that builds upon the amazing Shut Up I Am Dreaming. I hope that the rest of the band doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, they deserve great praise too. Looking forward to adding this album to my collection, let’s hope it gets the credit it is due.
I know, Krug is brilliant, this thing is bursting with creativity and ideas and he’s really at the front of the pack etc. etc. but… if the album didn’t have “Stallion”, I’d be a LOT happier.
seriously? i think “stallion” is one of the finest tracks on the album, i don’t think you can take one track off of this record without it falling apart, it’s like a complex tower of brilliance that builds and builds, and each piece is vital to the whole composition.
Yeah, the album is structured the way it is for a reason, and removing a track really isn’t cool.
Still, I feel like “Stallion”s presence really hurts my enjoyment of the piece as a whole. RSL has astounding creativity, with ideas >>> execution, but I feel like it ends up being too taxing for too long to be a great record. “Stallion” (along with “Colt Stands Up, Grows Horns”) is the main blight. It just doesn’t add anything to my enjoyment of the record that I didn’t get from the opening movement, and it drags a bit.
It’s not a bad song on its own- and Krug knows when to throw in some awesome guitar work, as usual- but here I just don’t think it works.
that makes a certain sense i suppose, since music is entirely subjective i won’t by any means say you are wrong, but don’t you find the piano enthrallingly beautiful throughout and when the guitars come in around 3:57, it’s like you could float away to a netherworld or something on the melody, and then at the very end when the guitars come in really loud, it’s just pure magic to me…
I think even you cant appreciate Stallion and Colt Stands Up for the songs that they are, you have to at least respect them on some kind of ‘treefingers’ element in that they are crucial to the success of the album, even if it is a low point.
Like, for me, I think it was nice to have 2 songs in a row to chill after the kick in the balls that is the first half of the album. You have to appreciate those 2 songs ability to at least let you catch your breath, if only to take it right back away with For the Pier and Taming of the hands.
I don’t know what this guy from above is on, but “Stallion” is a very high HIGH point. But then again, practically the whole album rides a wave of brilliance that I haven’t heard in such a long while. For the idiot that was trying to categorize this down to the level of Neon Bible, Wincing The Night Away, and Some Loud Thunder: are you insane??!!??!! Random Spirit Lover is in a far far higher and complex realm of music composition that can only be fairly compared to classics from over the years. I will be baffled if this doesn’t garner widespread critical acclaim. Of course there might be a few medicocre reviewers that won’t be “into it” or “get it”, but that’s common with most classic albums. This whole thing is surprisinging to me because I figured Wolf Parade is an ok indie rock band and everything else that Spencer Krug has done has ranged from ok to pretty decent. But then all of a sudden he lays down an opus like this. Bravo………….
I totally agree with nocturnal c, “stallion” is mind-blowingly good, definitely not a “treefingers” or “chill/low point” on the album. i don’t have any qualms with any of the songs on this release, in my opinion, the album is a masterpiece composed of twelve masterpieces. i honestly can’t stop gushing over this album, and i don’t normally (ever) say this, but i honestly would not be surprised if this album is still talked about and lauded with praise twenty years from now.
Stallion sucks, it sucked it concert and it sucks on the album and fanboy James can suck it
Best album since well.. Shut Up I’m Dreaming. Krus is the best songwriter of our generation. If you don’t realize it now you will after the next cd…
Chris, James and Nocturnal C are nailing it right on the head, and so too are those who fucking get the genius in this historic piece of art. “Materpiece composed of twelve masterpieces” indeed. “Stallion” is absolutely spectcular, especially considering how “Colt” sets it up. I’m a visual person, and the visuals I’m receiving from Krug here(and with all his other work) is just astounding. I’ve always contended that musicians like Krug, are more than musicians; They are painters, and photographers. Since we construct images in our minds, and not with our eyes, I really believe this to be true.
This is simply the best album I’ve heard all year. One of my favorite albums ever. And listening to some of the new Wolf Parade’s live material is even more proof of how intensely and even intimidatingly talented Spencer really is… Who ever labels this musician, this composer a one trick pony is totally dillusional.
Brilliance
I feel I should clarify a comment I made previously. I think Stallion is an amazing song and I definitely wasn’t comparing it’s quality to Treefingers. I was simply trying to express that if the above poster didn’t like Stallion for the song that it is, he or she would have to at least appreciate what Stallion does in terms of the grand picture of the album. In other words – it is almost like the complaint is that Stallion isn’t upbeat with a thundering drum like ‘taming of the hands’ or ‘mending of the gown’ (even though it does build to a BEAUTIFUL climax). Even if you don’t like Stallion all that much, simply deleting it would just wreck the flow of the album and hurt the functionality of a song like ‘for the pier’ which gradually builds us up out of the slower piano-centric portion of the album. Similarly, Treefingers was a crucial break to let How to Disappear Completely set in before the roaring riff of Optimistic on Kid A. I would contend though that Stallion is superior just as a song.
I love reading all of the comments agreeing that this album is truly special and will be enjoyed for years to come. Can anyone else remember an album garnering those kinds of comments even months before its official release? I will shamelessly call this album a Classic already. How unprecedented is this though?
Chris, I actually got that from your initial post about “Stallion”, It was quite clear to me how your felt about the song.
It’s rare to not have access to albums until they are released anymore, this far in advance though I’ve never experienced. I’m ecstatic and guilty and anxious all at the same time though. When SUID was released, I don’t think many people anticipated how great of an album it had potential to be, but as is the case with follow-up releases of great work, leaks happen sooner and time seems to slow down in classic Einsteinian fashion. The National’s Boxer garnered similar pre-release excitement, so too Interpol and Spoon I think, but not 2 and a half months before release!
“Stallion” is one of the best songs on the album and one of my favorite songs ever. How anyone could think of it as less than heart-rendering stunning completely escapes me.
I am absolutely obsessed with this album, and I’m obsessed with Krug’s work as a songwriter. It’s almost like I can rely on his work now. I anticipated “Random Spirit Lover” so much. I KNEW it would be amazing, and guess what? It actually is. How often does that happen in life? That something not only lives up to your highest hopes but easily surpasses it?
Krug makes art that matters. Deeply, on a very personal level, he makes art that literally makes me feel thankful to be alive so I can be exposed to it. I would think many songwriters want to be songwriters because their work truly means something to other people. I can’t speak for anyone else, but Krug’s work deeply affects me. Its honest, its cathartic, its reflects the soaring highs and crushing lows of life.
When I first heard “I’ll Believe In Anything”, I was floored. It was one of those moments – especially at that mid-song climax – when I realized I was hearing one of the best songs I’ve ever heard in my life. It was like hearing “A Day In The Life”, or “This Will Be Our Year” or “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” or “Teenage Riot”…I just knew it was an instant classic. I remember thinking how special this guy could potentially be…and I find it sorta shocking that he’s grown into the songwriter I hoped he could be. He’s absolutely in top form now, it’s not about “potential” anymore…he’s already proven his worth. Between this, the Wolf Parade album, “Shut Up I’m Dreaming” (an album I obsessed over last year and was easily my favorite of the year) and even the fantastic material of his on “Beast Moans” (Bejar and Mercer really disappointed me on that album, but Krug’s 4 songs or whatever were enough to make that album one of my top 10 of last year)…I think that if he happened to never write another song (luckily highly unlikely), his legacy will still be secure.
I don’t think it’s at all absurd to put Krug’s name among Lennon, Dylan, Bowie, Moore, Yorke, Mangum, Shields…
Wow Sean. That was really expressive, you’re certainly not alone in your thoughts. It was about 10-15 rotations into “I’ll Believe in Anything” from Apologies that I was floored. I still remember driving to school and maxing the volume on my car stereo and exploding at just that same climax you spoke of. But unlike you, I didn’t anticipate this in the slightest.
When I saw the release reviews for SUID I felt compelled to check it out, knowing by then who Krug was, and then slowly getting sucked into it’s vortex. It was after that release that I knew this guy was mad. Definitely my fav release of 06 as well.
There is so much sincerity in Spencer’s approach that it’s almost impossible to miss his brush strokes, even the most promising of songwriters lose touch with their core, but he just keeps peeling back layers. I hope to all that I hold dear that he doesn’t deprive us addicts in the future.
Can someone count how many times Spencer Krug has said “Ba-da-dum” in his recording career? Or maybe just this album? I don’t have time, and I’d really like to know that stat.
“The Taming of the Hands That Came Back To Life” has song of the year potential. Surprising that it wasn’t even mentioned. It’s easily the best cut on the album.
Zach:
Are we talking “Ba-da-dum”, “Ha-da-da” “Ya-da-daw… Ya-da-da-da-daww…”, “Oooooooo, eeeoooo, oooo”, “Owaaaooo waaaooo waaaoo waaaaaaaaaa eeeeewwaaaaaww”, O a o, a a oe aoww” “Oooooooooooo” or just all of them? Also, how much of a pause between howls signifies the start of next howl?
I’m talking “Ba-da-dum” and only “Ba-da-dum.” When he goes into machine gun mode, each triplet is counted as a single unit of “Ba-da-dum.” If no one else is catching on to this, there was actually a track tentatively titled…yes…”Ba-da-dum.”
If anything, I wish he’d said it more.
This post is to Nadirt and Sean Johnson. Thank you for being alive. Thank you for so eloquently expressing how I feel about Spencer Krug. Thank you.
86% seems rather low in my opinion.
I just love being able to see that other people are effected by Spencer’s work on crazy scales. It’s very satisfying to know that others are moved in similar ways.
What’s this 86% you speak of?
I just love being able to see that other people are effected by Spencer’s work on crazy scales. It’s very satisfying to know that others are moved in similar ways.
What’s this 86% you speak of?
the 86% is a part of the ‘premature evaluation’ graphic. All premature evaluations say that – it is not the album’s score.
Fuck-king-hell!!! Only just listened to Random Spirit Lover for the first time and it was an exhilarating experience! The peaks of RSL made me feel nauseous, they are that incredible! You know that feeling you get in your gut when you are hearing a life-changing album for the very first time? (Personally, a feeling not felt since Kid A). Yep, this is one of those! I’m lost for words, frankly, but I’ll return once I’ve absorbed the glorious nuances this masterpiece.
The attention to detail required to fully appreciate this album takes me back nearly 10 years to a certain Neutral Milk Hotel release. Obviously there are the glaring differences in the meandering sexual stream of consciousness belonging to Jeff Mangum’s more straight-forward chord progressions and Spencer Krug’s unified vision with complex orchestration. However, the feeling I have in listening to the albums is similar. Cheers.
Indeed an amazing album. However, did somebody actually say this is the best album of the decade? I ask you… Is this really better than Kid A? Has somebody finally dethroned that album? I personally don’t think so but it is rather fun to think about.
Also album of the year is a difficult if only because this year has been ridiculous for great releases. Surely, Panda Pear’s record and Animal Collective’s record have to be considered.
One thing I did notice the above comments is a lack of recognition of the rest of the band. The guitar player, whoever he may be, really has to be recognized. From the outset of the album he establishes himself as a force to be reckoned with.
Anyways, it is pretty good to be alive when there is album this good out there. Long live BC artists!
I think it’s way better than the Panda Bear and Animal Collective albums for sure. Mainly because it displays experimentation right along side rock that’s right along side pop that’s right along side acoustic… All with an underlying concept full of characters and crazy cool settings, with real world and out of this world sentiments. RSL just covers so many different territories, I think in ways that no other album this year has.
It’s funny how you said: The guitarist needs more recognition… Whoever he is! Ha ha ha… It’s Michael Doerksen on the riffs, and yes he riffs it out for sure…
Album of the decade is a really tough category, and for me Turn On The Bright Lights, which seems to have been all but forgot by so many, stands above anything else I’ve heard all decade… Purely subjective though…
Well ok maybe I got a bit carried away there… I wouldn’t say Random Spirit Lover has dethroned Kid A or Turn on the Bright Lights.
Maybe Sufjan Steven’s Illinois is a more accurate comparison – RSL has a similar lushness and complexity and kind of got me excited in a similar way that Illinois did.
Spencer Krug is a fucking genius, though. The shivery scary shit is that he can and will probably top this one day. Don’t wanna get my hopes up , but if anyone is going to release the next Kid A, it’s going to be Spencer Krug. I’ve got high hopes for the new Wolf Parade…
Wow, sounds great. I’ll certainly buy it. I just hope it comes on eMusic, its not like I want to buy a CD.
Stereogum.com: What are you thinking, you think I’ll provide you with my e-mail? Turn it off, it is annoying.
I am trying to formulate my review for this album and I read all of your guys’ comments and now it is so hard because you all already said it first.
Thanks a lot, jerkwads.
This is an absolutely awesome comment thread! Woo Sunset Rubdown!