Moonface - "Whale Song (Song Instead of a Kiss)" and "All Fires" Live @ Emo's, 07.25.11

Here's a couple clips of Spencer Krug's first performance in Austin under his Moonface moniker. The first video is for "Whale Song (Song Instead of a Kiss)," which comes off the impressive new album Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped. Below that is video for a song originally done by one of Krug's other bands, Swan Lake. It's called "All Fires" and take a drastic turn from it's original quite tone.

Enjoy, and after the jump check out a few shots from the evening.

My 4 Favorite Spencer Krug Albums

Spencer Krug has so much musical output in so many different bands that he makes Jack White look lazy. Along side the obvious material from Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown—Krug’s discography contains several albums as a member Frog Eyes, a couple as part of the three-head beast that is Swan Lake, and even as outing in a instrumental band. It all equates to a massive amount of music from this prolific artist.

His latest incarnation is that of Moonface, a new solo project. This new solo album Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped will be released on August 2nd via Jagjaguwar. His tour as Moonface hits Austin this Tuesday (07.26.11) at Emo’s.

In anticipation, I look back at my four favorite albums from the many faces of Krug. Why four? Well, five is too many and three is too few. Here they are… countdown:

4. Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslyer (2009)
This LP begins and ends quietly. Yet in between, the mood ranges from epic, to monstrously epic, to epically monstrous. In line with the album’s title, the music here sounds like that which would play as the knights of Camelot ride into battle. “Black Swan” and “”You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)” stand in Krug’s catalog as some of the biggest tunes he has crafted. But what makes Dragonslyer really stand out is the supporting cast. Krug’s right hand "Jane-of-all-trades" Camilla Wynne Ingr steps up her duties and becomes a significant back up vocalist, adding a welcome contrast to his maddening yelps. It's evident here that Krug may have found a circle of partners more suited to his unique song writing structures than his “primary” band Wolfe Parade. After Dragonslayer I had come to the conclusion that I would rather see Krug retire his partnership with Dan Boeckner and focus his main attention on this band. One Wolfe Parade album later (Expo 86) and it looks like that may be the case.

I'm listening to the new Moonface album right now... And you can to if you pre-order it.

Moonface is the solo persona of Spencer Krug, he who spends his time in many bands. Most notably Krug is half of the driving force behind Wolf Parade and leadman of his once side project (turned primary band) Sunset Rubdown. Now we can add a new full length solo album to his ever-growing discography. Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped officially hits streets on August 2, but the pre-order is now live and it includes an instant download of the album when you purchase.  

Krug has also posted an album outtake, "The Way You Wish You Could Live in the Storm," over on his website. There you can also find lyrics to that song and the whole album. I pretty much love everything Spencer Krug puts his hands on, so I was really quick to scoop this up.

...and I was pretty quick to scoop up tickets to the Moonface show that will be hitting Emo's on July 26. I've seen Krug live several times with his other bands, so I'm excited to see what his solo show delivers.

Sunset Rubdown @ Mohawk, 06.20.09

“If I ever hurt you, it will be in self-defense,” those were the first words to come from Spencer Krug as he began his set last night (06.20.09) at Mohawk. They were sung in his trademark vocal style that sounds like he is either on the edge of bursting into tears or teetering on the brink of insanity. The lyrics themselves are also a brand of their own as most of the time they are so cryptic you never really can tell what he is talking about. “No I’m not the type of that whore, but I am a little lord,” Krug sings and later leads the crowd in chants of “You snake!” The song is “The Empty Threats of Little Lord” and the band he was with was Sunset Rubdown.

The song leads directly into “Idiot Heart,” the first single off of the band’s newest album Dragonslayer. For Spencer Krug it’s his third release in just over a year with as many bands: the others being Wolf Parade’s At Mount Zoomer and Swan Lake’s Enemy Mine. With a constant stream of material coming from him it would be easy for Sunset Rubdown to fall into the cracks, but undoubtedly this band stands out as the most prolific of Krug’s projects. It also stands out as the most critically acclaimed. Thanks is due mostly to the rest of the band. Initially conceived as a solo outlet, Krug has since drafted a mighty group of musicians to make up Sunset Rubdown— most notably vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Camilla Wynne Ingr and Jordan Robson-Cramerwhose drums perfectly complement the theatric moments of Krug. Sunset Rubdown is an epic band in every sense of the word.


The crowd at Mohawk was with Sunset Rubdown at each step. “Idiot Heart” received a welcome response and got more than just a few people dancing. After the two opening songs Krug moved from guitar to his more traditional place at the keyboard. Old favorite “The Mending of the Gown” kept the crowd dancing. From there we were treated to several new tracks including the soft melodies of “Silver Moons” and the blazing movement of “Black Swan.”

Towards the end of their nearly hour long set Krug and company again reached back to their earlier release Random Spirit Lover for the grand “Winged/Wicked Things” with Krug belting out like he was at the top of a mountain “And if chaos is yours, then chaos is mine. And chaos is love, and they say love is blind.” To close out they gave us a pair of newbies: the long and quiet “Dragon’s Lair,” and the larger than live “Nightengale/December Song.”

This being my second time seeing Sunset Rubdown live, I can truthfully say they are one of my favorite live bands. Their performance comes across as epic and majestic as their albums. And listening to Dragonslayer (their third full-length as a full band) as I write this, I can definitely say that I’m hearing one of the best albums of 2009. While there is plenty of Spencer Krug material to go around these days, he has always been strongest when surrounded by his Sunset Rubdown bandmates.

Dragonslayer officially hits stores this Tuesday, June 23. Do yourself a favor and pick this up. It is officially Trinity Stardust approved.