Is there anyone on today's music scene with a more restless passion to create than Spencer Krug? I'd think not. Maybe even hope not. Since the 34-Year-Old Canadian weirdo first appeared on the scene in 2002, Krug has been involved in an astonishing 21 musical releases. This output is spread out between six different acts (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Moonface, Frog Eyes, Swan Lake, and Fifths of Seven), 16 of the entries into his canon so far taking place during the stretch of 2005-2010, making for an annual average of two and two thirds LPs, EPs, Singles, and whatever else during that period. But, whatever you do, don't take Krug's moderately reduced offerings over the last couple of years as a sign of decreasing energy, or ambition. Last year, the mad-man unveiled his solo debut LP, a collection of only five lengthy tunes composed entirely out of Krug's voice and various organ sounds, appropriately named Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped. His 2012 effort is no less head-turning: A joint album with Finnish Prog Rock band Siinai.
Though Krug has often been a star player in the past, Moonface sees him in complete control of his product, which means writing more songs per release than the man is likely used to. His last two releases point clearly to this fact; The aforementioned Organ Music was preceded by a one-song, 20-minute long EP entitled Dreamland EP: Marimba and Shit-Drums. While Krug has proven masterful at fleshing out simple structures into sprawling epics, spreading his muse over 10 tracks seems to exhaust him, both in terms of song composition, and his patented odd-ball lyricism. Everything here is down-tempo, the slowly unfurling title track foretelling of the disc's steady pace. As a matter of fact, fleet of foot numbers like Shitty City and Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips almost jump out at you from nowhere, flying in the face of a surprisingly mellow track list. Admittedly, I've always been, and will likely continue to be a big Krug fan, so even the negative things that I bring up about any of his releases must be qualified, but there's no ignoring how HB can slip into the background far easier than the work of this singular artist usually does. I'll still be the first guy in line for his next release, but this shouldn't be mistaken for the cream of Krug's crop.
Grade: B-
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