SUNSET RUBDOWN > Random Spirit Lover

As a key member of Frog Eyes, Wolf Parade, and Swan Lake, Montreal-native Spencer Krug is one of indie rock’s most prolific songwriters. He releases music with such frequency that it’s as if he was born a decade or two late, and making up for lost time.

Label: Sub Pop
[Rating: 3 stars] 

As a key member of Frog Eyes, Wolf Parade, and Swan Lake, Montreal-native Spencer Krug is one of indie rock’s most prolific songwriters. He releases music with such frequency that it’s as if he was born a decade or two late, and making up for lost time. He’s back at it again as the co-vocalist/lyricist of the Brian Eno-after-10-cups-of-coffee-sounding-group, Sunset Rubdown. Random Spirit Lover, their third and most ambitious album to date, is a dense, sprawling mass of psychedelic synthesizer, spastic guitar, and howling vocals. However, unlike most Sub Pop releases, Random Spirit Lover is anything but accessible, as verse/chorus/verse pop song structure is abandoned and most of the songs ramble well over the five-minute mark. After what seems like 15 or more spins, I still can’t seem to wrap my head around this opus. It seems impenetrable to the point where I’m not so sure Spencer Krug can even make sense of it all, so I won’t attempt. The beauty lies in the emotion it evokes, not in the conciseness of its message, if there is one.