Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 4/5 Released: October 9, 2007 Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov |
There is one moment of absolute lucidity on Random Spirit Lover, and it comes on ‘Magic vs. Midas.’ Spencer Krug, an alternate member of Wolf Parade, Frog Eyes, Swan Lake and this project, Sunset Rubdown, sings: “Was it magic or Midas that touched you? / And by magic I mean trickery, and by Midas I mean faith.†Anytime Krug wants to explain to you exactly what he’s talking about, you should take him up on it.
Almost every track on Lover is a scrawling wordplay that requires a thesaurus, dictionary and liberal use of the pause button to dissect. What’s even more interesting is the way that Krug is able to weave so much text into his songs without becoming overly verbose – the vocals are just another part of the instrumentation that helps each song reach their dizzying potential, with the specific standout being the carnival-like ‘Up On Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days.’
Random Spirit Lover is a massively overwhelming experience, but is ultimately a very rewarding listen. Despite the complexities of both the lyrics and the music, it manages to be a fairly accessible album (by Krug’s standards), which doesn’t require the concentration you’d expect to enjoy.
