Welcome to Dissected, where we disassemble a band’s catalog in the abstract. It’s exact science by way of a few beers.
Spencer Krug: The Man, The Myth, The Keyboardist. Many have attempted to put the 34 year old British Colombian in a classifiable box, but few have succeeded, if any. Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Moonface, Frog Eyes, Fifths of Seven, Swan Lake: these are not the names of zoo exhibits, resort massage packages, metropolitan ballets, or time signatures, but the seemingly never-ending musical outlets with which Krug is associated. Under the Wolf Parade moniker, Krug teamed up with Dan Boeckner to craft gravely, danceable, glammy, art-rock over the course of three records. Through Sunset Rubdown, Krug showcased his stream-of-consciousness art-pop, almost completely unhinged. Moonface took that concept one step deeper into the realms of his unconscious. Fifths of Seven barely existed, as a short-lived instrumental super group with members of Silver Mt. Zion and Cakelk. Swan Lake was an assembly of indie rock’s most eccentric minds– Carey Mercer, Dan Bejar, and Krug– to form wandering and lurking dream pop. And finally, Frog Eyes was just another place for Krug to sprinkle his synth-dust.
Krug is an amalgamation of the mythical and real-world beasts that he chants about; a confused, eccentric poet searching for the answers to his mind’s qualms in the deep valleys of his subconscious. He is a ranting, yelping, crazed lunatic behind a set of warbly synthesizers, masking his erratic emotions in enigmatic, cryptic narratives. He is a traveler through nightmares and dream worlds alike. For a decade, he has brought us back stories from the depths of a slain fire-breathing dragon’s heart, from all-terrain leopard rides through the folds of ex-girlfriends’ dresses, from excursions prancing between the ceiling-high lines of horror film scripts, from hunting safaris, from horse rides through hell, from haunted camping trips. He has done all of this, and, it has only added to the confusion, begged more questions. After all of these personal songs, these animal-indebted monikers, these heartbreaking anecdotes, these insanely catchy keyboard riffs, and these gravely vocal spurts, we still don’t know what to make of him. We still have no idea what it all means. We may never know, either. But hey, let’s give it one more shot.
-Drew Litowitz
Senior Staff Writer/Assistant Art Director
The Bloody Hand (Frog Eyes, 2002)
The first of three records Krug played on with the Froggies, a band he started with his then-roommate, the easy-on-the-ears Carey Mercer.
Mercer’s Craigslist Posting Read: Canadian songwriter looking for a dude with a croaky voice and an interest in vintage synthesizers to join me in my yelping, unintelligible escapades. Live-in situation is preferred.
File under: Two Wild and Crazy Guys
Their Room Probably: Looked like a zookeeper’s practice space.
Wolf Parade EPs (Wolf Parade, 2003, 2004, 2005)
Personnel: Spencer Krug, Dan Boeckner, Arlen Thompson, Hadji Bakara (on the 2004 and 2005 EPs only)
Statistics: 3 EPs released in 2003, 2004, and 2005; 4, 6, and 4 songs respectively; 50% of the songs written by Krug; 8 of the 14 songs between the 3 EPs would end up on 2005’s Apologies to the Queen Mary; first two EPs were produced by the band and the third by Apologies producer/Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock.
Krug vocal ad-lib percentage: 10%
“I Got a Party Started Up”: Though Krug’s songs only make up half the songs, the first two EPs have a production value very similar to the Sunset Rubdown EPs: lo-fi, electronic drums, swirling and diving reverb saturation, and echoed vocals.
“It’s the Easiest Way”: The Apologies tracks that appear on the first two EPs are essentially the same structures as they appear on the album, but with different intros, such as the chanting and clapping start to Krug’s “Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts”.
Glam Rock Nostalgia: Krug’s contribution to the third EP, “Disco Sheets”, sounds just as the name would suggest: dancey, covered in glitter, and wearing light-up glasses and matching Speedo.
-Nick Freed
Snakes Got a Leg (Sunset Rubdown, 2005)
Personnel: Spencer Krug
Krug vocal ad-lib percentage: 10-15%
Longest Song Title: ”I’ll Believe in Anything You’ll Believe in Anything”
Shortest Song Title: ”Sol’s Song”
Songs on other albums: “I’ll Believe Anything You’ll Believe in Anything” – Apologies… by Wolf Parade; “Dust You Kick Up Is Too Fine” – included in “Swimming” on Shut Up I Am Dreaming; “Sol’s Song” – ends up as “A Song Once Mine Now No Longer Mine” on The Golden River by Frog Eyes.
Wolf Parade connection: Aside from the initial version of “I’ll Believe in Anything” on this album, three of the album tracks were recorded by Wolf Parade drummer Arlen Thompson.
Sequels to Previous Songs: “Snakes Got a Leg II”; “Hope You Don’t Stoop to Dirty Words II”
Instrumental Tracks: “Cecil’s Bells”; “Sol’s Song”; “Portrait of a Shiny Metal Little Boy”
Obviously recorded alone in a bedroom: The haunting “I Know the Weight of Your Throat”
Krug’s Zoo: Snakes x100, vultures, terrapins, and crows
Song Title Word Count vs. Number of Songs: 51:12
-Nick Freed
Spry from Bitter Anise Folds (Fifths of Seven, 2005)
Personnel: Spencer Krug, Beckie Foon (A Silver Mt. Zion, Set Fire to Flames, and Esmerine), and Rachel Levine (Cakelk). This was a shortlived instrumental side-project (believe that!) for the aforementioned, resulting in an eight-song collection of wordless tunes to slit your paws to.
Instrumentals: 8
Obscurity Rating: 8/10
Krug’s Unmistakable Composition Style Is: Immediately recognizable from the first few piano notes, ascending and spinning into Krug-ish melodies.
-Drew Litowitz
Apologies to the Queen Mary (Wolf Parade, 2005)
Personnel: Dan Boeckner, Spencer Krug, Arlen Thompson, Hadji Bakara, Tim Kingsbury, Isaac Brock (producer)
Statistics: 50% of songs written by Krug. 100% of the record’s title is a reference to the band’s misbehavior on-board the ocean liner The Queen Mary, when the band allegedly kicked down a door and got rowdy as hell. Seventeen percent of the song titles feature the word “Ghost”. One time the song “Dinner Bells” came on Drew’s iTunes at the exact moment that his dad called upstairs, “Boys, dinner’s ready,” which he never does. Ever.
Longest Song Title: ”You Are a Runner and I Am My Father’s Son”
Shortest Song Title: ”Fancy Claps”, “Dinner Bells” (tied at exactly 10 letters, mind you)
Figures drawn on hearts: 3
“You are”/”I am”: “You are a runner/and I am my father’s son.”
Isaac Brock: Realized he had stumbled upon a band that sounded like Modest Mouse fronted by two gravely, insanely coked-out David Bowie fans and didn’t want to pass up on that shit.
In the Battle of “I’ll Believe in Anything” vs. “Shine A Light”: We find two of indie rock’s most idiosyncratic pop-composers writing two of the Oughts’ catchiest tunes. Deciding which song is better is like eating soup with a fork.
One of the Best Album Openers in Semi-Recent Memory: “You are a Runner and I Am My Father’s Son”
-Drew Litowitz
The Future is Inter-Disciplinary or Not At All (Frog Eyes, 2006)
Just layin down some heady keyboard riffs, bro.
Sunset Rubdown EP (Sunset Rubdown, 2006)
Personnel: Spencer Krug
Krug vocal ad-lib percentage: 20-30%
Longest Song Title: ”Jason Believe Me, You Can’t Trust Your Dreams”
Shortest Song Title: ”Three Colors”
“Threaten you in your sleep”: “Jason Believe Me, You Can’t Trust Your Dreams” is a cautionary tale to not let figments of your imagination trick you, and also enough to keep you from ever sleeping again. For example: “Oh, sleep with your eyes open/sleep on your back/stave off the attack/of carnivorous things.” The dirge-like music and Krug’s wailing are nightmarish to say the least.
“Don’t worry, he can calm you too”: The duo of “A Day in the Graveyard” and “A Day in the Graveyard II” are as lighthearted and whimsical as Krug gets. A playful, childish piano and Krug with the boyish vocal line “When the conductor fucks up/you can’t blame the symphony/so I won’t blame you/if you don’t blame me” may be one of the best songs Krug has ever written.
Sequels to previous songs: “A Day in the Graveyard II”; “Three Colors II”
Better versions elsewhere: The band recorded “Three Colors” for Daytrotter and added a more frantic, driving pace to it, and turned it into a far more unforgettable and energetic track than the cut on the EP.
Instrumental Track: “A Day in the Graveyard”
Most Eeyore lyrics: From “Three Colors” – “Do you believe that you belong to something?/I can’t believe that I belong to no one…/Do you believe that you belong to somewhere?/I can’t believe that I belong to nowhere.”
Krug’s Zoo: Wait…there are no animal references here. None!
Song Title Word Count vs. Number of Songs: 18:5
-Nick Freed
Shut Up I Am Dreaming (Sunset Rubdown, 2006)
Personnel: Second full album and first with full band: Krug, Camilla Wynn Ingr, Michael Doerksen, Jordan Robson-Cramer
Krug vocal ad-lib percentage: 25-30%
Longest Song Title: ”I’m Sorry I Sang on Your Hands That Have Been in the Grave”
Shortest Song Title: ”Q-Chord”
Creepiest song about isolation: “I’m Sorry I Sang on Your Hands That Have Been in the Grave” – with reverb washed pianos and xylophones, Krug’s doubled vocal waver, sparse guitar hits, and a drudging drum beat under lyrics like “I don’t really wanna swim swim swim in the water that you claim or has claimed you” and “There are ones that lie/and ones that lie underground/the first ones lie/the second ones I lie about/carry on”, don’t listen to this song in the dark.
“You are”/”I am”: “If you are a teacher I am a vessel”; “You are a beast/and I am serving up your supper”; “I’m no horse/and you are no angel”
Sequels to previous songs: “Snakes Got a Leg III”; “Stadium and Shrines II”
Closest thing to straightforward lyrics about someone/something: From “The Empty Threats of Little Lord”: “If I ever hurt you/it will be in self-defense/and if you ever come at me/I’ll hurt you/If you ever come at me/you snake.”
Instrumental track: “Q-chord”
Krug’s Zoo: “The Men Are Called Horsemen There” features horses, leopards, and sheep, not to mention that the whole thing seems to be a metaphor about how wild and pretty Krug would be as a horse. It’s an oddly sexual song, with lyrics like “When someone says ‘fuck me’/someone else says ‘ok’”, but I’m not touching that.
Epic closer: “Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Loves Have Wings”
Song Title Word Count vs. Number of Songs: 47:10
-Nick Freed
Beast Moans (Swan Lake, 2006)
Personnel: Carey Mercer of Frog Eyes and Blackout Beach, Daniel Bejar of Destroyer, Hello, Blue Roses and The New Pornographers, and Spencer Krug
Statistics: 31% of songs written by Krug, including “All Fires”, arguably the only song worth listening to from this or any record.
Number of Times Performed at the Lincoln Center: 0
Ballerinas Present: Hard to say.
Natalie Portman: Is hot.
Dan Bejar: Is in the corner twiddling his thumbs and mumbling, but I guess people like that kind of thing.
Longest (Krug-Penned) Song Title: ”Are You Swimming in Her Pools?”
Shortest (Krug-Penned) Song Title: ”Bluebird”
I’ll do this better later: On his tour for Moonface’s Organ Music, Krug consistently performed “All Fires”, turning the track on its insane heels. Krug injected his 8-bit psychedelic synth-magic into a hair-raising, epic rendition of the Swan Lake track. At a Pitchfork Festival aftershow at Chicago’s Lincoln Theater, Bejar was literally waiting in the back corner to join him for one such incredible performance of “All Fires”.
-Drew Litowitz
Random Spirit Lover (Sunset Rubdown, 2007)
Personnel: Spencer Krug, Version, Camilla Wynne Ingr, Michael Doerksen, Jordan Robson-Cramer, Mark Nicol
Amount of time that this record sounds like a crazed, schizophrenic glam-rock Broadway musical: The entirety.
Krug vocal ad-lib factor: 120%
Song Title Word Count vs. Number of Songs: 58:12
Longest Song title: ”Up On Your Leopard, Upon The End Of Your Feral Days”
Shortest Song Title: ”Stallion”
“I am”:
Sorry that they took you for a whore
Sorry if you took me for a whore
Sorry that I took you for a mortician
the water at the foot of the palms,
and and wind, and a shitty mirage
a man of many nations
“You Are”:
Sorry that they took me for a whore
“You’re the one who”:
ran in the wild because you’re the one the wild called
followed the child to save the sun from how it falls
had knives set aside for the throats of hunters
(who)’s riding around on a leopard
throwing the shit in the air
(who)se wild hide will weather in the weathering days
ran in the wild a virgin to a name
lived off a forsaken land
(who)’s kissing your captor’s hands
(who)’s throwing dead birds in the air
wild hide will weather in the weathering days
“I’m the one who”:
sat at your capture and I’m the one who whispered low
sat at your capture and let the snow fall
Most epic keyboard guitar breakdown in a song about riding around on a leopard: ”Up On Your Leopard, Upon The End Of Your Feral Days”
Krug’s Zoo: Hunters, Leopards, Stallions, Colts, Dead Birds, and Wild Hides
-Drew Litowitz
Tears of the Valedictorian (Frog Eyes, 2007)
Still layin’ down some heady keyboard riffs, brosef.
At Mount Zoomer (Wolf Parade, 2008)
Personnel: Spencer Krug, Dan Boeckner, Arlen Thompson, Dante DeCaro
Statistics: 50% of songs written by Krug, including sharing writing credits on closing song “Kissing the Beehive” with Boekner; 11% of songs named after ’80s band (“Fine Young Cannibals”); 100% of Krug’s songs sound like they could be Sunset Rubdown B-sides
Krug’s vocal ad-lib percentage: 40%
“You are/I am”: “You were dreaming of Los Angeles/While I was singing songs you wrote/You quietly gave away the winter clothes I made for you/while I made angels in the snow.”
Self-deprecation maxification: The most “oh geez” lyric, from “Animal in Your Care”: “Like some dead relative you will remember me most/by my funeral and all the beautiful toasts you made/take back the spade/we’ve both been filling up our days like we were filling up a grave.”
Krug’s Zoo: Bees…ten minutes and 47 seconds of MF’in’ bees.
-Nick Freed
Enemy Mine (Swan Lake, 2009)
Personnel: Cary Mercer, Spencer Krug, Dan Bejar
Krug’s vocal ad-lib percentage: 35%
I’ll do this better later: “Paper Lace” which Krug later “covered” in a more upbeat, less rambling way on Dragonslayer with Sunset Rubdown.
“I’m here because they are friends. I’m not crazy.”: Krug’s thought on the entire album.
Should’ve done it better later: “Settle on Your Skin” could be an incredible Wolf Parade song. If Dan Boeckner were allowed to unleash himself on the middle guitar solo, it would be the best combo of glam-rock and dance rock that Krug and Boeckner need.
Which bands are you guys in again?: Oh, don’t worry, we can tell by listening to which song you wrote.
-Nick Freed
Dragonslayer (Sunset Rubdown, 2009)
Personnel: Spencer Krug, Camilla Wynne Ingr, Michael Doerksen, Jordan Robson-Cramer, Mark Nicol
Krug’s vocal ad-lib factor: 40%
Longest Song Title: ”Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!”
Shortest Song Title: ”Paper Lace”
Song Title Word Count vs. Number of Songs: 29:8
Overarching Theme: Slaying a dragon in a post-party wasteland as a metaphor for overcoming a recently dissolved relationship.
Krug’s Zoo: Buffalo, One Big-Ass Dragon, Swans
“You are”/”I am”: “You are a vast explosion/and I am the embers”; “You are a fallen tree/He is a Fallen Tree”; “You are a Champion, I am the Champion”; “You are a Widow/You’re not a Widow yet!”
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again”: “If I was the horse, I would throw up the reigns,” is a line lifted from Shut Up I Am Dreaming‘s “The Men Are Called Horsemen There”. It still makes almost no sense.
Sequels to Previous Songs: “You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)”
Number of songs featuring confetti-riddled wastelands: 2 (“Silver Moons,” “Dragon’s Lair”)
Best Slasher-Thriller lyrics as a metaphor for Heartbreak-inspired hatred: “Idiot Heart”
Backhanded Death Wishes: 1 (“Idiot Heart”) “I hope that you die in a decent pair of shoes/you’ve got a lot of long walking to do.”
-Drew Litowitz
Expo 86 (Wolf Parade, 2010)
Personnel: Spencer Krug, Dan Boeckner, Arlen Thompson, Dante DeCaro
Statistics: 55% of songs written by Krug; 1 out of 6 of those songs are about an invented creature (“Cave-o-Sapien”); 4 out of 6 you can tell are Krug because the song titles are at least 4 words long
Krug’s vocal ad-lib percentage: 85% “Cave-o-Sapien” is basically just an excuse for Krug to scream “Oooohhhhh” over and over again.
Almost had me then lost me: “I sleep all night with the light on/and dream about the sun/maybe because of the light/maybe because of the sun/I’ve got a friend who’s a genius/nobody listens to him/I’ve got some friends that are famous/la la la la la la la la”
At Mount Zoomer/Sunset Rubdown B-side: “In the Direction of the Moon”
Krug’s Zoo: Oxen, gazelles, gorillas, scorpions
-Nick Freed
Dreamland EP: Marimba and Shit-Drums (Moonface, 2010)
Personnel: Spencer Krug
Unambiguousness of EP Title: 100%
Krug vocal ad-lib percentage: 90%
Gettin’ ambitious: Krug presumably learned how to play the marimba for this EP. There are multiple movements, layers, and levels in instrumentation and vocals throughout this sprawling 20+ minute single-track EP. Sounds about the right amount of artistic ambition for Krug.
Playground to drug den: “I’ll prove how much I love you with this handstand/I can breathe under the water, I can hear your muffled laughter/I can feel you coming through the walls”
MC Krug on the mic: “I was lying around with chameleons—I was hanging around with bitches”
Krug’s Zoo: Chameleons, dogs, fish, “black animals”
“I am”:
the chameleon
living on the edge
the moonfaced flower child
playing a glass guitar
the moonfaced flower child, I am
waiting for the fairies to kill the lights and chew the walls
making hissing sounds with my mouth…
Best closing lyric ever: I am making hissing sounds with my mouth.
-Nick Freed and Drew Litowitz
Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped (Moonface, 2011)
Personnel: Spencer Krug
Unambiguousness of EP Title: 113%
Self-Deprecation Level: High
a) The album’s title
b) “You should have been a writer, you should have played guitar..”
Should’ve done it better later: Most of the record. The whole thing sounds like unfinished demos that could have eventually been fleshed out into fuller songs, but using only shitty organ synthesizers and drum machines.
-Drew Litowitz
With Sinaii: Heartbreaking Bravery (Moonface, 2011)
Krug vocal ad-lib percentage: 37.6%
Unambiguousness of Title: 50%
Not: The Title of a Dave Eggers Book
Finnish Krautrock Backing Band: Check.
“You are”/”I am”: (“I am not the fox with blood stained lips standing over the kiln/You are the killer”), (“I am not the Phoenix yet/You are not holding your hand over the flame anymore”)
Longest Song Title: ”Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips”
Shortest (and most LOL) Song Title: ”Shitty City”
The Verdict: This thing sounds like Spencer Krug fronting a more experimental Interpol, with some early-era U2 engineering and lots of layering. We got squealing guitars, propulsive rhythms, catchy hooks, weighty chord progressions, and lots o’ distortion. In other words, it kicks -insert animal name here- ass.
-Drew Litowitz
Conclusions
Releases: 21 releases (including EPs) in 10 years (2002-2012)
Animals Harmed: Way too many to count.
Spence’s Hair-Length: Steadily growing
Self-Confidence: Staggering
Longest Album Title: Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped
Number of Associated Acts: Uno dos tres cuatro cinco cinco seis.
“Maybe these Days are Over, Over Now”: Wolf Parade (indefinite hiatus), Fifths of Seven (one-album wonderzzz), Sunset Rubdown (hiatus)
- Drew Litowitz
