Conicidentally, I went to see Sunset Rubdown last night at the Black Cat in Washington, DC, just as I'm starting this blog. I guess it's only seems fitting that my first entry with content is about one of my favorite artists. Sunset Rubdown is the brainchild of Spencer Krug, also of Wolf Parade, and, to a lesser extent, Swan Lake. Spencer's been one of my favorites since Wolf Parade dropped Apologies to the Queen Mary back in 2005.
Sunset Rubdown started out as a solo bedroom recording project for Krug, and has steadily grown with each release into the living, breathing (more like fire-breathing), five-person band of gypsies that it is now. They're on tour promoting they're awesomely titled new album, Dragonslayer, which finds the band making a concerted effort to be a real rocking and rolling band, instead of the hyper-literate weirdos they were before. Turns out they're just really loud hyper-literate weirdos now, and that's absolutely fine by me.
They've added a fifth member who provides an extra backbone on bass and percussion. Combined with Krug playing more electric guitar than ever (he playes keyboards exclusively in Wolf Parade, and I'd only ever seen him play acoustic guitar before last night), the latest record is probably the closest to Wolf Parade they've come yet. But if you're worried that they might be trying to make a run for the big time, fear not, the album comes fully equiped with song titles "Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!" that will keep them plenty far from playlists with Lady Gaga on them.
Oh, right, the show.
Elfin Saddle and The Witchies opened. Elfin Saddle was pretty cool avant stuff, with two songwriters (one singing in Japanese) and an entire pawn shop full of instruments, including accordian, recorder, upright bass, and plain ol' guitar. I was less than impressed by The Witchies. Their off-kilter drums and spacey synth and organ sounds didn't quite mesh with the full-throttle guitar playing of the singer.
Sunset Rubdown, of course, did not disappoint. After opening with a tension-building take on "The Empty Threats of Little Lord" from their first full-length, Shut Up I Am Dreaming (2006), they proceeded to blow the roof off the place with two Dragonslayer cuts, "Idiot Heart" and "Black Swan." The set included five songs from the new album, a few from the previous two albums, and true to Krug's insanely prolific nature, a song that's newer than the album that hasn't even come out yet (Dragonslayer is officially out 6/23 on Jagjaguar Records). The encore pulled exclusively from Shut Up, a nice reward for those of us who are long-time fans (Long-time? Really? That record came out three years ago.)
Okay, breathe, Mike, you're done now.
If there's a band or record or song you think I should check out, or if you want to tell me to cut it with the fanboy crap, or if you'd just like to drop a line, all correspondence can be sent to udreviewmusic@gmail.com.
Links:
Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart (from Dragonslayer)
Sunset Rubdown - Winged/Wicked Things (from Random Spirit Lover)
Now listening to: Sam Cooke - Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964
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