One thing this Bostonist has learned is that ambient intros/outros/interludes are never as cool in execution as they are in concept. At their Middle East show last Thursday, Sunset Rubdown abandoned power-pop super-structures in favor of aimless sonic meanderings that left the set stagnating and without context. The saving grace was often keyboardist Camilla Ingr who, perhaps sensing the restlessness, offered comedic relief during one such breakdown: “This is the relaxation portion of our set. You can leave comments at the merch table.”
For the most part, the best songs featured dueling vocals between singer Spencer Krug and Ingr (which weren't frequent enough). The band played mostly new material, only touching on Shut Up I’m Dreaming and playing nothing from Random Spirit Lover. Even “Idiot Heart,” the stand out single from new album Dragonslayer lost it’s charm live; instead of an epic born of Greek mythology (with Krug name-dropping Icarus and all), it was all melted wings and plummeting mass of waxy feathers (thank you, liberal arts education).The performance lacked the quirky, off-kilter charm of Random Spirit Lover, or even the melodic whimsy of Krug’s Wolf Parade tracks. Sonically, everything was there—borderline catchy verses flowed into anthemic choruses which found their way to guitar-rock bridges—but nothing progressed further in a meaningful way.
Expectations were admittedly a bit high, given Krug's past and propensity for writing fist-pumping, tear-shedding indie rock epics. "I'll believe in anything," a Krug ballad from Wolf Parade's Apologies to the Queen Mary is home to some of the most devastating chord changes in indie rock and represented itself raw and beautiful live last time this Bostonist saw them. So all hope isn't lost. Let's hope it was only one mediocre show.
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