2nd May - Sunset Rubdown's Shut Up, I Am Dreaming

Artist – Album: Sunset Rubdown – Shut Up, I Am Dreaming

Released:  2^nd May 2006

Sounds Like: Freaky deakies need love too. Freaky deakies need love too.

You must always bear in mind when reading these little ramblings dear reader that all my descriptions are just relative. When I called yesterday’s album Disintegration creepy, I only meant that it was moody and atmospheric – it didn’t stop me from sleeping. Similarly, as riotous as Iggy & the Stooges may have been, Raw Power didn’t make me break things. I stand by my description of Al Green’s Let Stay Together as baby making music, but *breaking news* it didn’t lead to any hanky panky for me that night. I called the Dixie Chicks’ music pure garbage but... well, no, I totally meant that one. But when I describe today’s album as weirder than a freak show over at Weird Al Yankovic’s house, I only mean in comparison to most of the bland dross that’s produced nowadays. Don’t let it put you off, it’s meant as a compliment.

Musically, it’s not so far removed from the normal. The shimmering opener ‘Stadiums and Shrines II’ and the sedate, piano-led ‘Us Ones in Between’ could appear on any good modern indie groups repertoire, whilst the stammering ‘They Took a Vote and Said No’ and the heavier ‘Snake’s Got a Leg III’ remind of fellow Canadian rocker Destroyer. Spencer Krug sings in a quivering, faltering voice and there’s certainly a lack of structure that avoids convention but it's hardly incomprehensible. No, the real freakiness lies in the disconcerting imagery. These are sprung upon you from nowhere and are fascinating and alarming, like the creatures in a Guillermo del Toro film: “And I’ve heard of creatures, who eat their babies; And I wonder if they stop, to think about the taste”, “The Casanova ran, Toward the Eastern lands, His cock was in his hand”, “You are a beast and I am serving up your supper”. Groovy.

I wouldn’t only describe it as strange though. It’s also brilliant. It’s all built around four exceptional songs – the previously mentioned, beautiful ‘Us Ones in Between’; the meek but menancing tantrum centre piece ‘The Empty Threats of Little Lord’; the epic but bewildering ‘The Men Are Called Horsemen There’; and the long, closer ‘Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings’, which almost acts as part II to ‘The Empty Threats...’. A phenomenal experience.

Albumaday... rating:  8/10

1.       Stadiums and Shrines II – 3:57

2.       They Took a Vote and Said No – 3:43

3.       Us Ones in Between – 4:26

4.       I’m Sorry I Sang on Your Hands That Must Have Been in the Grave – 5:32

5.       Snake’s Got a Leg III – 3:52

6.       The Empty Threats of Little Lord – 5:07

7.       Swimming – 3:41

8.       The Men Are Called Horsemen There – 7:05

9.       Q-Chord – 1:21

10.   Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings – 7:23

Listen to ‘Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings ’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl6DKIv1H5s

Also released on the 2^nd May:

1983: New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies