Monday, November 16, 2009

Noughties By Nature #62: Sunset Rubdown - The Mending Of The Gown

It's sometimes difficult to reconcile a man and the music he makes. Spencer Krug, for instance, resembles a chubby choir boy, the type of unassuming guy you wouldn't give a second glance in the street. His songs on the other hand sound like the ranting of a bonafide maniac. OK, perhaps he's a little more restrained than his erstwhile bandmate Carey 'Frog Eyes' Mercer, but they channel the same frenzied quasi-mystical vein with brilliantly baffling results. The muted, fuggy mix attempts to restrain Krug's vicious keyboard hammering and the kaleidoscopic swirling guitars but to little avail - a critic once described Sunset Rubdown as “sounding someone vomiting Crayola over a microphone” and although I suspect that comment was made with derisive intent, there's a certain truth in it. Vocally, Krug resembles a mad preacher in full flow - not the grizzled, fire-and-brimstone Nick Cave type, but a youthful zealot yelping from the pulpit with passionate, almost sinister fervour, and whilst one could argue for days over quite what he's on about, there's no denying it sounds the part. Personally, I'm sure there's some rhyme to the reason, but even if you do consider his lyrics a random assemblage of words masquerading as something deeper, there's no denying that at the very least they're damn fun to sing along too - “Or any other random spirit lover- busted; I have lusted after yooooooooou...the way bloodsuckers do...the way bloodsuckers do...the way bloodsuckers do!”
Adam Elmahdi

[Spotify]
[YouTube (live)]
[Album: Random Spirit Lover]

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