The sound of Sunset Rubdown can best be described as an amalgam of everything great about indie. You'll find rapid screaming almost-synthesized guitar melodies alongside quiet, Mayer-esque confessional pieces in their studio albums, Shut Up I am Dreaming, and Random Spirit Lover.
Sunset Rubdown's vocalist, Spencer Krug, has all the edginess of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's Alec Ounsworth, with none of the whininess. It's really hard to describe Sunset Rubdown's sound without describing what is great about their genre: variety, eccentricity and, more often than not, experimentally over-the-top art sounds that, when mashed together, give you the feeling of listening to something ethereal.
You'll find here some truly nonsensical time signatures and overlapping song structures that can only be described as brilliant when listened to as a whole. Other times, as in their standout piece "Stadiums and Shrines II", you'll be left to dry in a slow drip of diminishing harmony only to have a tidal wave of wailing vocals and driving guitar riffs envelop you abruptly. Speaking of Stadiums and Shrines, make sure to give their EP a listen. It defines their early genius, an almost cryptic interpretation of what must be sounds from a graveyard.
Trust me, it sounds great. Their recent work, a studio album entitled Dragonslayer, seems absurdly tame compared to the EP of 2006. But at least the band is progressing their sound. In "Idiot Heart," you'll find the guitars have been turned up a notch in wavelength, while their ferocity has been diminished.
It's worth listening to, but only in the context of Shut Up I am Dreaming and Random Spirit Lover. Sunset Rubdown performs this Saturday at 8 p.m. at Sonar. Judging by a random sampling of YouTube videos, this band knows how to put on a show.
Minus the scratchy distortion from a crappy camera audio capture, the band's sound is nearly identical live as it is in the studio. Fans will be rewarded for their repeated listens to the studio albums with some real quality live talent. Sunset Rubdown's songs are filled with metaphor and often refer to surreal or mythological characters and heroes.
Others describe this as one of the band's distinctive and admired trademarks, but I disagree. For Sunset Rubdown, collage is key. Their songs are sort of the Pollacks of Indie, sounds thrown together to achieve a harmonious, if slightly roughed up, whole. Sunset Rubdown's evolving art-rock maturity has become more evident in each successive album.
Epic melodies and complex, textured structures are what await concert-goers who make the effort to see them this Saturday at Sonar's Club Stage.
