VZ Magazine

Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade, and Sunset Rubdown had been leading the revolution of independent music for quite some time. After admitting to leaving Wolf Parade in an indefinite hiatus status, fans could only predict what smokes and sounds will come out of Krug’s experimental music asylum.

One could question the legitimacy of his work, but one could not doubt the prolific artist’s talents. In 2010, Moonface was introduced to the public. Marimba and Shit-Drums is a twenty-minute piece that loops with emotional peaks and valleys reverberating those fearful and daunting moments in Krug’s most possessive dreams and nightmares. With the marimba keeping the track of the tempo and intervals of each thought, Krug showcased his ability to leave the audience bewildered and nostalgic. They would scratch their heads thinking, “Have I heard it somewhere in the past, or could this be the music of the future?”

In his new album Organ Music: Not Vibraphone like I’d Hope, Krug creates a landscape where the inhabitants of the tune braves rough storms and disappointment. With the organ instead of the anything else guiding us through each 7 minutes plus song, Krug creates a path into the hypnotic world that is located somewhere not too far from his frontal lobe. But if anyone was to tune out for a second, they would be lost in the thematic repetitions of his songs, but that can offer a good excuse to listen to it again.

In his highlight track “Fast Peter”, Moonface, tells the tale of his dismal brotherhood with a man who yearns for passionate love. It offers a charisma in Krug’s work that is uncommon. A beginning middle and end storyline is not the usual choice for Krug to tell a tale. The majority of his five tracks proves that his complex lyrical charm, interlaced with the almost too simple organ and drum loop, could do no more than engulf the listener in hurricane of musical cacophony.

I can admit that Organ Music: Not Vibraphone like I’d Hoped, and Moonface in general is not meant for the musical majority. Those that lack the adventure and dare to explore the outer regions of the independent musical territory should not leap into Moonface halfheartedly. It is a sound that some considered extinct, while others consider ahead of its time. Whatever they say, there is not a doubt that Spencer Krug is onto something really special. And it takes a C+ experiments like Organ Music to blaze the trail.