Sunset Rubdown : Random Spirit Lover

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/sunsetrubdownrandomspiritlover.jpg" alt=" " />Spencer Krug & co. deliver the best Sunset Rubdown album yet with <em>Random Spirit Lover</em>, a record that takes their scrambled, screwy sound to a...
7.7 Jagjaguwar
2007 

 Spencer Krug & co. deliver the best Sunset Rubdown album yet with Random Spirit Lover, a record that takes their scrambled, screwy sound to a higher plane. Canada has been rife with releases from ‘side projects’ lately, from Broken Social Scene spin-offs like Andrew Whiteman’s Apostle of Hustle (QRO review) and the upcoming ‘Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew’s Spirit If’.  And Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug has been one of the most active, from his work last year on Swan Lake’s Beast Moans (QRO review) with Destroyer/New Pornographers’ Dan Bejar and Frog Eyes’ Casey Mercer, to his work this year on Frog Eyes’ Tears of the Valedictorian (QRO review), not to mention preparing next year’s Wolf Parade album.  But somehow, between all of that, Krug has found the time to bring together Sunset Rubdown, his solo-side-project that has become a full-fledged band, to record and release Random Spirit Lover, an album that shows the kind of growth and development no one really had any right to demand.

Random Spirit Lover opens with what is, admittedly, probably its strongest track, “The Mending of the Gown”.  Seriously catchy, even with the tempo changes that are Sunset Rubdown’s hallmark, it delivers some wonderful, bopping fun.  But unlike last year’s Shut Up I Am Dreaming, Spirit Lover delivers a variety of approaches on top of its jumbled beats, combining the experience of Shut Up with the energy and ambition of their raw debut, 2005’s Snake’s Got a Leg.  Some of the avenues work better than others, but this record is anything but one-note.

The strongest of the tracks on Spirit Lover are mostly, like “The Mending”, upbeat.  Colorfully titled early track (something else synonymous with Sunset Rubdown) “Upon Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days” feels almost like a marching anthem, but gets bigger, more forceful, and more powerful.  The following “The Courtesan Has Sung” comes off first like some sort of weird round, laid above a nice, strange rhythm, before getting high and expansive.  Even higher is middle track “For the Pier (And Dead Shimmering)”, a flowing piece that carries the listener on down its river – and through the rapids.  The more straightforward (relatively speaking…) follower “The Taming of the Hands That Came Back to Life” doesn’t quite wow with its rock, but has a strong progression.

Sunset Rubdown are less accurate with their sadder songs, but they hit the mark on the nose with Random Spirit Lover’s final two tracks, “Trumpet, Trumpet, Toot! Toot!” and “Child-Heart Losers”.  The dark and pressing “Trumpet” takes a little while to work as its force develops, when it does, it does.  And the stripped-down, acoustic, alt-alt-country “Losers” is short, and sweet.  But the other two dark tracks don’t quite do as well, as the grand “Winged/Wicked Things” is a little too much froth over substance, and the haunting, synth-heavy 80’s techno of “Colt Stands Up, Grows Horns”, while very neat as something different on the record, goes into an unfortunate weird jam at the end.  Likewise, the other quieter pieces don’t match up to “Child-Heart Losers”, as the near-post-rock of “Magic vs. Midas” has perhaps too many tempo changes, the epic “Stallion” meanders too much (and, at 6:45, is the longest track on the album – yet strangely has the shortest title…), and the David Bowie-in-“Heroes” reverbed voice of “Setting vs. Rising” isn’t quite gripping enough.

Sunset Rubdown can take a while to get to where they’re going (the tracks average a length of 4:33, and only two – “Setting” and “Child-Heart” – are below four minutes), but, for the most part, getting there is half the fun – if not more.  Interesting, yet engaging, Random Spirit Lover is far more than just something to listen to while waiting for Wolf Parade’s much-anticipated follow-up to their 2005 debut LP, Apologies To Queen Mary.  Spirit Lover delivers on the promise of Snake’s Got a Leg and wisdom of Shut Up I Am Dreaming, standing on its own two feet while reaching for more.

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