It may seem silly to call anything Spencer Krug’s done in the past few years “underrated.” But for all the blogspace devoted to his manic anthems, I still think Random Spirit Lover hasn’t received its just props. I get why that is; Krug’s knotty compositions, constantly shifting while constantly circling back on themselves, increasingly require careful, sometimes studious listening. Maybe that’s what made Sunset Rubdown’s relatively tempered first album — and Spencer’s relatively Boecknered contributions to At Mount Zoomer — more widely praised affairs. Whatever, we love him. Anyway, however you parse the praise, after watching this session recorded last week in North West London, we’re pretty sure we can all at least agree: if you flagged a taxi and stumbled into this scene — 3/5 of Sunset Rubdown performing new-ish tune “You Go On Ahead” on guitar, casio keys, and a coffee mug/bucket drumkit — you wouldn’t kick Spencer out of the cab.

Watch it at blackcabsessions.com.

Comments (11)
  1. there was a day in the graveyard.

  2. Spencer is an incredibly hot man.

  3. Evan  |   Posted on May 28th, 2008 0

    This pisses me off. Is he hoarding his great songs for Sunset Rubdown, or what? This would’ve been perfect on At Mount Zoomer, methinks. Really, take out Bang Your Drum and add this. or hell, just ADD this to it.

    Blah.

  4. i’m going to ask spencer krug to marry me

  5. Mattea  |   Posted on May 28th, 2008 0

    he’s a genius… this song is fantastic!
    and I don’t think it really matters whether the tracks are on a WP’s album or SR’s, as long as they are this great…

  6. here’s the mp3 of the performance:
    http://www.mediafire.com/?m4nnyyvwmhz

  7. Thanks, I’ve always though SR was underrated.

    Thank you for the mp3 greekgoat!

  8. simonsays  |   Posted on May 29th, 2008 0

    yeah, sunset rubdown are in a league of their own compared with wolf parade…

  9. Sean  |   Posted on May 29th, 2008 0

    Spencer has been the best active songwriter in the world since Apologies. He’s one of the few songwriters that overwhelms me with his talent. RSL was my favorite album of last year, and as noted, even though it got a lot of “attention”, I don’t think it received anywhere near the “respect” that I feel it deserved. Spencer writes songs that get you in the gut, the heart and the head. He has the potential to be legendary…

  10. DirtyPistol  |   Posted on May 29th, 2008 0

    Definitely agree with the pro Krug comments. Put the two Wolf Parade LPs against the two Sunset Rubdown LPs; SR wins hands down. I like the Dan songs for WP but sometime his lyrics kill an otherwise pretty good tune.

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