Sunset Rubdown, one of the many side projects of Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug, released their fourth LP today, Dragonslayer, on Jagjaguwar. Go get it! This album is all the talk right now. San Franciscans, the band will be playing The Rickshaw Stop Wednesday, June 24.
“Evangeline“:
The Handsome Furs finally made their way to San Francisco this week and, well…this was pretty much what the show was like – HOT! Their energy, connection, passion and performance on stage was raw and magnetic. The husband and wife duo bared it all for the audience (figuratively speaking), pouring their souls into their music and each other, feeding one another into a frenzy and into heaps on the floor several times throughout the night.
There were moments when I thought Alexi Perry was going to dive through her drum machine back into the Matrix, only to be brought back from the edge by the dashing Dan Boeckner’s embrace and kiss. For real, people! It was truly amazing and inspiring to watch two people so connected and effusive. If it wasn’t rock and roll it might have even been a little sappy.
Oh, and I haven’t even talk about the music yet. I love these guys and have been remiss for not featuring their new album, Face Control, on this site yet. It’s sure to be on my top album list of 2009. Just like their sleeper debut Plague Park was in 2007. Face Control is definitely more upbeat and dancey, likely inspired by their romp through the clubs of Eastern Europe. Boeckner’s straightforward rock and songwriting shine in this album. as it does in his work with Wolf Parade. I’ll take him over Spencer Krug any day.
Listen to “Zombie City Shakes“:
Hmmm, check out this tasty nugget that arrived in my inbox from Canadian indie rockers, Black Hat Brigade. Do I hear a little bit of Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs in there? The band is independently releasing their second EP, Fathers, on May 28 and have launched a fan-based donation project to help bring the album to life. A+ for ingenuity! To donate visit the Black Hat Brigade MySpace page.
Montreal’s Handsome Furs have a new album on the horizon! Their second effort, Face Control, is due out on Sub Pop Records 3/10.
The side project of Wolf Parade‘s guitarist and vocalist Dan Boeckner and his wife Alexei Perry, Handsome Fur’s Face Control ‘draws inspiration from Eastern Europe and re-maps Eastern Bloc surveillance state themes to contemporary life and the irony of our acceptance and embrace of self-monitoring, through blogs and facebooks and myspaces and credit/debit accounts and surveillance cameras and GPS devices.’ Confused? Just listen to this new track, ‘I’m Confused’. And if you haven’t already heard their debut album, Plague Park, do so now. It was one of my favorites for 2007.
Face Control Track Listing:
Listen to ‘I’m Confused’:
Listen to ‘Radio Kaliningrad‘:
File this ‘black’ band under the psychedelic stoner rock category, for sure. Hailing from Vancouver, this group has received the high honor of being one of the top ten Canadian 2008 Polaris Music Prize finalists for their second album, In the Future.
Check out the Polaris website for more details on the final nominees contending for Canada’s coolest music prize – many of which were on heavy rotation for me throughout last year. If you’re not up on the Canadian indie music scene, the long list of nominees is a must read. It’s a veritable who’s who of Canadian indie rock….except for the noticeable absence of Sunset Rubdown and Handsome Furs. Guess the Canadians aren’t Wolf Parade fans.
Congratulations and best of luck to Black Mountain, but I’ll be rooting for Caribou. Featured is the Black Mountain video, Angels.
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Artist: Handsome Furs
Album: Plague Park
File Under: Indie Rock
Recommended if You Like: Beck, Wolf Parade
Featured Track: Sing! Captain
The influence and reach of Montreal-based Wolf Parade and its members is quite astonishing. I’ve always been intrigued by Spencer Krug and his impressive list of side projects. (Sunset Rubdown was one of my favorites last year.) Now Wolf Parade guitarist and vocalist Dan Boeckner has his own, Handsome Furs.
Formed as a concept project with his drum-machine playing wife, Alexei Perry, in 2006, the duo booked a tour before even they’d even written a song. The two holed up in an apartment belonging to members of the Arcade Fire and wrote their debut album, Plague Park.
Featuring a drum machine, guitar and Beck-like vocals, their sound is dark, bare and stirring. I love it.
Get this album free via eMusic’s 50 Free MP3 Promo
the OCMD 