Maintaining the adventurous nature that makes Sunset Rubdown Spencer Krug's most ambitious project, Dragonslayer is a tightly woven and surprisingly effortless listen. Third time's a charm, as they say, and here it seems that Krug has struck that perfect balance between eclectic and poppy. It's a fine line, but Sunset Rubdown tread it well, never seeming too careful and never stepping on a hook with their trademark spiraling solos and splintering changes. Although the band deconstructs the typical verse-chorus formula and the songs usually break the five-minute mark ("Dragon's Lair" exceeds ten minutes), the melodies of "Idiot Heart" and opener "Silver Moons" are instantly memorable, sounding nearly classic. The latter song is a piano ballad with elements of glam rock, that, once again, takes a cue from David Bowie -- but this time appropriating Ziggy Stardust moves rather than drawing influence from Bowie's Berlin era. Sure, the music is challenging -- it's complex, musically and thematically. Art rock's not supposed to be easy. But as carefully crafted as it is, this is the group's most accessible record yet. And it's a damn fine one at that.
With the exception of perhaps Rob Crow, Spencer Krug is almost a shoe-in for the inaugural Pitchfork-backed ‘Mr Prolific Indie Rock of the Decade’; while the perceived day job he holds down may well be as co-frontman of Wolf Parade, the busy Canuck also finds time for Frog Eyes, Swan Lake, and not least, Sunset [...]
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Sunset Rubdown vs. Handsome Furs? Sounds like an indie music porno if I’ve ever heard one. After releasing the great At Mount Zoomer last year, Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner both went headlong into their side projects this year. Instead of reviewing each separately, let’s just toss them in the ring for a [...]
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Dragonslayer is unmistakably Canadian, quirky and firmly cements Sunset Rubdown's place among the best in north America at producing ambitious, alternative music...click here for more.
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Spencer Krug remains one of the most prolific of rockstars, following the Wolf Parade and Frog Eyes family tradition of joining enough bands that you can release multiple albums per year while somehow keeping the quality level respectably high for almost everything you do. While not everyone loved this year's Swan Lake release, Krug's work stood out as the brightest of the three musicians ( the...
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Jude Clarke review the fourth album from the critically acclaimed Spencer Krug side-project, and discovers an album with perhaps more minuses than pluses.
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You can already pre-order Sunset Rubdowns 'Dragonslayer' and receive the entire record for free as a digital download (you can read that news HERE) but apparently the musical distribution does not stop there. As of today (June 9th) and for one week only (so ending on the 16th) NPR Music is streaming the entire album free of charge.
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Sunset RubdownDragonslayerJagjaguwar out June 23rd[82][Rating Scale] 8.2 out of 10 starsIt’s impossible to talk about Sunset Rubdown without talking about Spencer Krug, the insanely prolific indie rock frontman associated with Wolf Parade, Frog Eyes, Swan Lake, and Sunset Rubdown, to name a few. He founded the band. He’s a dynamic presence on every track. [...]
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Sunset Rubdown have so far solidified their presence within the musical world without too much exertion. All three of the previous records were evidence of the band's capability and intent and each held some truly fantastic examples of how talented the collective truly are.
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The fourth Sunset Rubdown LP entitled Dragonslayer will be with us this summer courtesy of Jagjaguwar.Track list after the jumpThe track list is:1. Silver Moons2. Idiot Heart3. Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!4. Black Swan5. Paper Lace6. You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)7. Nightingale / December Song8. Dragon’s LairThis makes it [...]
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On June 23rd Spencer Krug and his band Sunset Rubdown will release their third full length entitled Dragonslayer via Jagjaguwar. This band has steadily been building in sound over the past few years and what was once a small project of Krug has now turned into a 5 piece band with this new album. With [...]
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First of all, he’s ok, so you’ll still probably get to see some Dragonslayer live in the near future...just breathe. Holy shit though! As you can see from the electro-current shaped mark, he was tagged in the back and the information we know now comes from the folks at his label (Jagjaguwar) and the horse’s mouth. Read on…A few weeks ago SUNSET RUBDOWN’s Marc Nicol, aka The Nuc, was enj
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Jude Clarke review the fourth album from the critically acclaimed Spencer Krug side-project, and discovers an album with perhaps more minuses than pluses.
More >
Dragonslayer is unmistakably Canadian, quirky and firmly cements Sunset Rubdown's place among the best in north America at producing ambitious, alternative music...click here for more.
More >
Sunset Rubdown vs. Handsome Furs? Sounds like an indie music porno if I’ve ever heard one. After releasing the great At Mount Zoomer last year, Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner both went headlong into their side projects this year. Instead of reviewing each separately, let’s just toss them in the ring for a [...]
More >
Spencer Krug remains one of the most prolific of rockstars, following the Wolf Parade and Frog Eyes family tradition of joining enough bands that you can release multiple albums per year while somehow keeping the quality level respectably high for almost everything you do. While not everyone loved this year's Swan Lake release, Krug's work stood out as the brightest of the three musicians ( the...
More >
Sunset Rubdown had a handful of dates set for the UK this September (HERE) and now, they've added a whole host more, ranging from Europe to the United States. Starting September 2nd in the Netherlands, the band now play nearly forty dates, finishing nearly two months later on October 27th in California.
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The new Sunset Rubdown album, Dragonslayer, isn't available for another few weeks but for those looking to get an early listen you can head on over to NPR to stream the album in full. I was a little disappointed with the last Sunset Rubdown album, Random Spirit Lover, but so far the latest album sounds pretty good. Sunset Rubdown's Dragonslayer is available June 23rd from Jagjaguwar.
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Strange and trippy are two words that have been stapled to the forehead of Sunset Rubdown for most of their musical lifespan and their newest video for 'Dragonslayer' track Black Swan doesn't disappoint in openly reinforcing and reveling in those very two adjectives.
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You can already pre-order Sunset Rubdowns 'Dragonslayer' and receive the entire record for free as a digital download (you can read that news HERE) but apparently the musical distribution does not stop there. As of today (June 9th) and for one week only (so ending on the 16th) NPR Music is streaming the entire album free of charge.
More >
National Public Radio has long been a bountiful provider of quality independent music, as is evidenced by their programs such as All Songs Considered and World Cafe (which first introduced me to bands like The Rosebuds). Now that cornucopia has again spileth over, this time in the exclusive first listen of Sunset Rubdown's new album Dragonslayer, which you can stream all week free courtesy of N...
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So, Sunset Rubdown is a pretty solid band, eh? Well, in addition to rocking pretty hard in general, the group can now add "mythical beast killers" to their list of achievements, as they set to release their new album Dragonslayer June 23 in North America or June 22 in Europe. The album will be their second full-length for Jagjaguwar (third full-length as a band), and it features all the members...
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While I was doing my morning blog crawl, I happily discovered that Montreal's Sunset Rubdown has released a video off of their latest LP, Dragon Slayer.Check out the video below. Sunset Rubdown – Black Swan Music Video from Throneboogie on Vimeo.
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Sunset RubdownDragonslayerJagjaguwar out June 23rd[82][Rating Scale] 8.2 out of 10 starsIt’s impossible to talk about Sunset Rubdown without talking about Spencer Krug, the insanely prolific indie rock frontman associated with Wolf Parade, Frog Eyes, Swan Lake, and Sunset Rubdown, to name a few. He founded the band. He’s a dynamic presence on every track. [...]
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 "Dragonslayer")
