Sunset Rubdown: DRAGONSLAYER

[If you shout...]

Sadly, this album is awesome. I say sadly because I fucking hate Spencer Krug, and am vocally proud of this. Anybody else had the pleasure of this, the year's biggest surprise? Or, well...my biggest surprise, anyway? So far...?

Damn it. Such a good record. Unreal. Still, fuck Wolf Parade and Swan Lake. For realz.

Fuck the album cover, too. I'm even MORE pissed than my Krug-love by the fact that I somehow like the songs on THIS fucking album:

 

[u2popmofo]

I think I listened to their last album once all the way through, if even that. The second Wolf Parade album should have just been called Sunset Rubdown, as it sounded nothing like Wolf Parade. Despite 2 disappointments in a row, maybe I'll still be a glutton for punishment and pick this up.

 

[got_edge]

I fucking hate Spencer Krug

Is that even possible?

 

[If you shout...]

It is possible, yes. Very.

Wolf Parade = Shit, apart from "I'll Believe in Anything"
Sunset Rubdown = Shit, apart from this record

This album is amazin' like OJ. u2pm, I also could hardly even bother with At Mt. Zoomer. I listened to it about 1.5 times, and it wasn't even terrible...it was just so fucking bland and forgettable. It just came and went, and I never even had to make an effort to avoid listening to it, again. Within hours, if not minutes, I had forgotten it. So insignificant.

And, yeah. That last Sunset Rubdown record was a punishing listen. Horrible. The only good song, "The Courtesan Has Sung," wasn't even a Sunset Rubdown song--it was just a reworking of Danny Elfman's theme from Edward Scissorhands. An uncredited one, at that! I still hope that Elfman or somebody at Warner Bros. sues, over that shit.

Anyway. This record is really, really, really strong. Seriously. You really should give it a spin. Very engaging, comparatively direct, and cathartic--not just cathartic on paper, like the reviews always say, but actually cathartic. Big difference, as I'm sure you know.

 

[If you shout...]

My word, what a song this is. Stunning both in delivery and its simultaneously fragile, overwhelming, soaring arrangement. I cannot urge you strongly enough to give it a go. Really. This really does sound like one of the tracks from 2009 that'll be remembered, at least by some, for a very long time.

"You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)"

YouTube - Sunset Rubdown - You Go on Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)

You go on ahead,
for a while.
I would like
to follow you, a while.
You go on ahead,
for a while.
I would like to just
follow you, a while.

And I'd like to watch the white flash of your heels,
as they take turns,
breaking the desert heat
to beckon me in languages I've never learned.
And I'd like to have you
navigate two hills where no musicians live,
and on the way decide what mendings of your will
you're willing to forgive.

And I'd like to think the actors never banded,
and I'd like to throw this trumpet down and
go on, empty-handed.
And I'd like to think I am not one of them,
but I know I am.
So I'd like to just
follow you, a while.

You go on ahead, for a while.
I would like to just
follow you, a while.
And you go on ahead, for a while.
I would like to just
follow you, a while.

When me and the boys were out,
we killed a thousand butterflies.
So I put their wings into my mouth and
said a prayer for our safe arrival.
And then, a big black car crossed our path,
and I wondered whether or not that shit was empty.
You go.

See the sirens and the lizards
flick their tongues behind the stage.
See the actor keep a ritual,
to keep them all at bay.
He would like to come home naked,
without war paint on his face,
and appear before you, virgin white,
if virgins are still chaste.

So when you've got to wait,
and you've got to wait,
and you've got to wait,
and you've got to wait,
and you've got to wait.
And you've got to wait for me.

And I will appear before you, virgin white,
if virgins are still chaste.
Then I'd like to just
follow you, a while.

And if there are two eyes in my head,
there are four seasons in a year
and reflections on the water
of a burning, yellow sphere.
And the days add up to weeks,
add up to months.
and add up,
and add up to years.

And if reflections on the water
sometimes look like burning tears,
we can watch them change in shape
without pushing off the pier.

 

[u2popmofo]

I can't find a single record store near me that got this in. Are they still on Jagjaguwar? The last album was everywhere.

 

[If you shout...]

JAG140 Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

 

[If you shout...]

Pretty good show, on Tuesday night. Far more "preppy" types than hipsters, which confounded and, ultimately, irritated me. Also, Krug still seems like a douchebag, but the songs were magnificent. Really solid, full instrumentation from start to finish. A surprisingly capable and technically crafty band, for the indie circuit.

 

[XHendrix24]

I simultaneously love and despise you for your opinions.

This is a great record (probably my favorite Sunset Rubdown, maybe second to RSL, time will tell), though it absolutely escapes me how someone could really like this record and like so little else of Krug's. Like really man, "The Mending of the Gown"? "Shut Up I Am Dreaming..."? "Winged/Wicked Things" is probably his most affecting song outside of "I'll Believe in Anything"! Hello?! And I don't see how someone can like "I'll Believe in Anything" without liking at LEAST the two songs that come before it. Come now, man. You're killing me.

ANYWAY, as far as THIS album goes, it's definitely Krug's most consistent Sunset Rubdown album, and honestly probably his most consistent album to date. Even Apologies to the Queen Mary had fucking "Dinner Bells." This album here is without filler, and songs like "You Go On Ahead" and "Idiot Heart" are some of the best of Krug's career. More people should hear this, for it is great, and easily in my top 5 of the year so far (others filling that out would be Animal Collective, Circulatory System, Future of the Left, and Phoenix, for reference).

 

[If you shout...]

Hendrix, didn't you turn me on to Mclusky, back in the day? Where the fuck is your love for Future of the Left?

Also, his other albums suck. Get over it. The show did get me hip to "Us Ones In Between," though. They closed with it, and I found it to be quite affecting. Great use of what looked like an infinite pick. Keeping it real, Edge-style.

 

[XHendrix24]

Hendrix, didn't you turn me on to Mclusky, back in the day? Where the fuck is your love for Future of the Left?

More people should hear this, for it is great, and easily in my top 5 of the year so far (others filling that out would be Animal Collective, Circulatory System, FUTURE OF THE FUCKING LEFT, and Phoenix, for reference).

BITCH! Don't question my love for pretty much everything Mclusky. That shit might just be my favorite Mclusky-related album since Mclusky Do Dallas. Or at least the one after that. It's fucking good is the point, and frankly I'm disappointed that you're spending time posting in threads rather than listening to it. Ass.



And yes, it starts with "Us Ones In Between." Then it'll be "Mending of the Gown" or "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts." Now every time you listen to the back catalogue, you won't be able to help yourself from seeing how brilliant it really is. I feel it in my bones. I have faith in you, mane.

 

[u2popmofo]

Finally found it in a store last week. I've only heard it once a few days ago, but I'm really happy with it. At this point, it's my favorite thing he's done since Apologies.

 

[If you shout...]

It is a good, deep, and surprisingly consistent record. Not really any valleys, on this one. I can't adequately express just what a pleasant surprise it's been.

 

[u2popmofo]

At this point, it's my favorite thing he's done since Apologies.

Gave it another listen yesterday, and I definitely still feel this way. I almost wish he would have released this under the Wolf Parade moniker rather than last year's album, as this is a bit stronger.

 

[If you shout...]

"A bit" is one of the wilder understatements of this decade.

 

[If you shout...]

I cannot believe how powerful I find this song to be:

Pitchfork: TV