« BBC Website relaunch to rival MySpace, News Corp Angry | Pot meet kettle | Main | Hey Hey it's Some Monkeys! »
April 27, 2006
Wolf Notes
Are there multiple Spencer Krugs? Have the bio-engineering talents of French Canadian seperatists been used to first win us over with an undying stream of kick ass rock music, figuring to keep us busy with air guitar while they seperate quietly in the night? How else do you explain a man with two albums in the can (Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake) that he somehow managed to finish while touring the world with his first band (Wolf Parade), and his second band (SR), and his old school part-time band (as keyboardist in Carey Mercer's Frog Eyes)? Compounding our incredulity, with thanks to I Guess I'm Floating , are live bootlegs of Wolf Parade shows from earlier this month yielding mp3's of new material, written by, you guessed it, Spencer Krug.
Seriously, time travel?
Wolf Parade - Things I Don't Know (live)
Starts with a nest of unfocused guitar which builds up ominously. Turns out it's a MacGuffin, as a dead stop swings the song into focus w/ Spence crooning over repeated piano stabs in a way that reminded me of Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man" until I went back and listened to that one again, and it totally didn't. Maybe I was reacting to the dramatic effect of the repeated notes, paired w/ the vocal? Anyhoo, the guitar nest does return, eventually straightening out into a more conventional riff on it's way towards an amped up climax, and then a denouement with SK softly pleading, "I sing you in songs/ I sing you in songs/ You hold my hand and/ String me along."
Ultimately though, it's solemn and not much of a pounder.
The more polished of the two tracks, this one might be a bit older, as I remember it being played by the staggeringly drunk band when I saw them last Rocktober. Now, with the Krug persona more fully articulated, I wouldn't have been surprised to see that this was a leftover from Shut Up, I am Dreaming. It's just got that mid-tempo, nightmare feel to it. But, I guess the Wolf Parade-ness shines through in the way the sloppy guitar line mimics the equally sloppy roundabout synth melody, building to a series of impassioned "Oh, Come On!" 's.
This one gets the nod if you're way into direct competition, but both are encouraging signs for the continued health of our old favorite band in the face of SK's fractured attention.
Handsome Furs - (unknown title)
But what's up with Wolf Parade's second vocalist, Dan Boeckner? The only proof we have of the not-Krug's continued creative existence comes in the form of a Said the Gramophone post, providing a demo of a non-titled track recorded under the name Handsome Furs. Rumor has it that the Furs are releasing an album this fall on the Parade's Sub Pop label. Just one side project album? What the fuck Boeckner? How hard is it to form a super group in the Canadian indie wilderness? Can Alden Penner be that busy?
Super stripped down sonically, this track suggests DB's wallowing in his solitude. Folk-y strumming set deep into the red sets us up for an atonal beard fest that thankfully never quite arrives. Electric guitar brings some light into the shack when it's needed most, and Dan's breakdown is propped up by a virtual wailing wall of echo-ing Boeckners. It's all we have for now, and the vague nature of the whole thing gives Handsome Furs a mysterious element to contrast to Krug's ubiquity.
Keeping up his ultra high-profile, Dan and the Furs are touring Scandinavia in May, while Spence and Sunset Rubdown tour away on their own, in sensible places like the US and Canada:
Handsome Furs
2006-05-09 Garage Oslo Norway
2006-05-10 Mejeriet Lund Sweden
2006-05-11 Wish Gothenborg Sweden
2006-05-12 Debaser Stockholm Sweden
2006-05-13 Club Gang Helsinki Finland
Previously: Frog Eyes for the Wolf Guy, Sun Rises on Sunset Debut
Tags: Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs, Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake
Posted by Jeff Klingman at April 27, 2006 05:57 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.merryswankster.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/271
