popwreckoning

Organ Music, Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped is a strange and mysterious thing. The latest project from Moonface, or Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade/Sunset rubdown) follows up last year’s Dreamland EP with a collection of avant-garde pop songs. They might not appear to be pop songs on the surface, but once they get under your skin, they won’t let go.

To describe the sound of the album – let’s use Krug’s words, from the press release: “It’s music played with an organ, organ beats, organ beeps and bloops, and some digital drums. Music based on layers and loops, the hypnotizing sound of a Leslie speaker, and the onslaught of melody.”

OK, so where the fuck does that leave us? Well, it’s lyrically dense and completely strange. It’s the least commercial thing Krug has done, but it’s also the best. Once you get past the unexpected sounds of the thing, it’s an album you’ll find yourself humming and singing along to. Oh yes.

Organ Music has five tracks, and it’s just under forty minutes long. With that in mind it’s probably best to examine it from a lyrical perspective, and track by track. So we go.

Track one is “Return To the Violence of the Ocean Floor.” Remember, we’re ignoring the music because it mostly serves as a backdrop, and a melody for Krug’s strangely enchanting obscure mumblings. This song has a great (almost) chorus, and approximately a million great lines, but the song culminates in a list. As Krug sings: “One, we got the spirit, two, we got the music, three, we got the past and four, we got the future.” This brings back to chorus: “And five, we got some kind of lust to return to the violence of the ocean floor.” It might look inane on paper, but against the organ beats, and with repeated listens ,it comes across as a litany, and one not to be ignored.

The next track, “Whale Song,” bellows with a subtle noise.  It aches, as Krug sings: “’’this is a song instead of a kiss.’” and is that the saddest thing to know? No, it’s not the saddest thing to know. “He continues on,  he talks of a pond where a whale will stay, he talks of how there will be a garden, and he seems to urge a lover on. It’s odd and plaintive, but also brimming with hope.

“Fast Peter” is a quicker number, in which Krug seems to be relating the stories told by another friend: “he told me all about it on the balcony when we were high on drugs.” It’s the story of Peter, a girl, and why “he held her up to the heart’s perfect’s light.” Krug questions Peter’s motives, but secretly hopes he succeeds. It’s a tender moment in an album full of tender moments you have to dig for.

After that, “Shit-hawk in the Snow” is probably the densest thing here. It’s almost impossible to discern what Krug is talking about here, but it contains at least one great WTF line “smoking cigarettes like it’s two thousand and three.” It seems to be at it the most basic about a girl, and the reminders of a girl. Krug repeats the mantra “and it will hypnotize you,” and somehow, we’re there. It’s a gradual song, probably the most gradual of the five.

The last song “Loose Heart = Loose Plan” might be the most pop orientated thing here, but it’s just as hard to grasp as the rest. The song is a shout out to and against nostalgia, and the fleeting nature of things. The song’s final verse seems to be a sarcastic coda for the record as a whole. Krug sings “lets  leave the revolution to the revolutionaries” and then “come on, let’s kill individual will.” The song ends with Krug pledging that he will over and over. Is this album revolutionary? God, no. It’s new and exciting, but it’s also the sound of a man doing whatever weird shit comes to his brain.

Even with that, it’s hard not to smirk as Krug endorses the death of the individual self. That might lead one to believe the whole thing is a joke, but that would be a false presumption. This is not Metal Machine Metal. It encourages the listener to come in closer, to put their head against the speaker. Organ Music is full of myths, honesty, lies, and humor. It’s something brand new. It’s not the sound of the future, but something better. It’s the sound of something we’ve never heard before, and might not hear again.

Mad Rad, Das Racist and The Thermals brought the house down at the free Sasquatch Launch Party at the Showbox at the Market last night, where the lineup to the now four-day festival would be announced.

Put on by Livenation and Sasquatch creator Adam Zacks, the launch party was MC’d by Comedian Todd Barry, who kept the crowd entertained between sets with dry wit and some fake teaser headliners.

“If you love me now, you’ll love when I play a set between headliners Elvis Presley and the Beatles, and tickets are only $7!” Barry proclaimed sarcastically to the less-than-attentive crowd. But I guess that’s what you get when you have a free show.

After Mad Rad and Das Racist played their sets, the lineup was announced in a video like previous years, which was played twice over, most likely so people could get a second look because they were freaking out too much over the Flaming Lips.

So far the lineup includes:

Death Cab for Cutie, the Decemberists, Modest Mouse, the Foo Fighters, Robyn, Wilco, Flying Lotus, Bright Eyes, Flogging Molly, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Das Racist, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Iron & Wine, The Flaming Lips.Black Mountain, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the Head and the Heart, Mad Rad, the Moondoggies, Noah & The Whale, Sam Roberts Band, Secret Sisters, Twin Shadow, Wye Oak, Tig Notaro, Smith Westerns, Rival Schools, Foster the People, Alberta Cross, S. Carey, White Denim, Washed Out, Gold Panda, Dan Mangan, Axis of Awesome, The Globes, Cotton Jones, Jaill, Basia Bulat, Other Lives, The Bronx, White Arrows, Pepper Rabbit, Talkdemonic, Rebecca Gates and The Consortium, The Young Evils, Bassnectar, Pink Martini, Cold War Kids, Old 97′s, Ratatat, Wolf Parade, Chromeo, Guided By Voices, Yeasayer, Beach House, Local Natives, Matt & Kim, Deerhunter, Mstrkrft, Trailer Park Boys, Sleigh Bells, Major Lazer, Skrillex, Fitz & The Tantrums, !!!, Archers of Loaf, Against Me!, The Thermals, Best Coast, CSS, Surfer Blood, Jenny & Johnny, Bonobo (DJ Set), City and Colour, Reggie Watts, K-Os, Gayngs, Tim Minchin, The Drums, The Radio Dept., Young the Giant, The Antlers, Sharon Van Etten, Villagers, Stornoway, Aloe Blacc.

Tickets go on sale on Feb. 14th starting at $79.50 per day and $285 for three-day passes.

Go to http://sasquatchfestival.com/ for more information or to purchase tickets.

Monday, while Canada’s indie rock band Wolf Parade was driving from Oxford, Mississippi, to Austin, TX, during its busy tour schedule, singer/guitarist Dan Boeckner was kind enough to answer some questions.

PopWreckoning talked about the band’s touring show, the upcoming performance in Lawrence, KS, and how he fits in his other act, Handsome Furs into his Wolf Parade life.

Reception wasn’t the greatest, while Dan was driving, so we kept this interview brief:

Bethany, PopWreckoning: You guys are coming to Lawrence, KS–the area our publication is based out of–you are coming here on Friday. For people who haven’t seen you live, what can they expect from this tour and this show?
Dan Boeckner, Wolf Parade: It’s louder than it is on the record. The music is louder than it is on the album. It’s a little faster and we just play that-live rock band sound. I don’t know. It’s just Wolf Parade playing loud versions of their songs.

PW: How have you adapted the songs meant for a 5-piece to being performed as a 4-piece?
DB: It was a little scary at first, but when we dropped from a 5-piece to a 4-piece, it was pretty short notice. We had to adapt on the road. It was trial by fire and basically decide which parts were keepers and which parts were either splittable or droppable. We had to figure out how to then split up the parts and fill in the sound that Hadji [Bakara] was playing and tried to replicate it as best we could.

PW: Has it affected the set list?
DB: No, we actually realized pretty early on that there wasn’t anything we couldn’t figure something out. It affected the writing process the most; it affected the writing process on the last record, definitely.

PW: With your writing process, since you and Spencer [Krug] are the primary lyrical writers, do you write more so individually then bring it to the whole band or is there more of a collaboration for the entire process?
DB: This record, in particular, was just pure collaboration. Spencer and I would come in with a riff or Dante [DeCaro] would come in with a riff or a little chunk of music, then we’d work it out in the practice space. We’d play around with it over and over until we had something good.

PW: When you’re writing, is there something that you kind of keep in the back of your mind that this is what I want Wolf Parade to sound like versus this is what I am writing for Handsome Furs?
DB: I think it comes to the whole collaboration thing. I generally know when I am writing for Wolf Parade to keep my ideas more open-ended because there are four people to work with and they all have their ideas, but with Handsome Furs there is Alexei [Perry]. It’s a huge factor that there are only two people for that. It’s a very different project writing for two. It definitely changes the songwriting. I don’t think I’ve ever had a song crossover when writing; I always know if I am writing something for one project or another.

PW: You guys just released two iTunes tracks about a week ago. Is that what is leftover from Expo 86 or are there any plans to put an EP of extra material from that record like you had previously talked about?
DB: We had those songs done and then we had one more song, which we didn’t have time to sit down and finish together, but it could be done. Maybe it will come out or maybe it will sit there and then 20 years from now, we’ll listen to it and be like, “Oh yeah, that song. Maybe we put lyrics on it.”

PW: Ok, I think our connection is starting to break up, so I’ll try to squeeze in just one more question for fear of losing you. It seems like all your album titles come from crazy past experiences/tour stories, so what is the wildest thing that’s ever happened to you on tour?
DB: I don’t know. We’ve had a  lot of crazy stuff like people going to jail or following some fans for a party 25 minutes out into the desert, which was maybe not the greatest idea. I’m not sure. I don’t know.

PW: Fair enough. Well, I’ll let you go and continue your drive. We look forward to seeing you perform in Lawrence Friday.
DB: Sure. We’re excited to play there.

Wolf Parade will play at the Granada in Lawrence, KS on Friday, November 19, with Ogre You Asshole. Tickets are available here. For more tour dates, go here.

Wolf Parade‘s third full-length, Expo 86, is an all-out indie rock release, danceable but dark. Just like Wolf Parade’s output of albums, it doesn’t seem to ever slow down.

From the opening notes to the final chords, Expo 86 is a driving force, with energy that never wanes and an enjoyable, catchy consistency. The sound is true to the Wolf Parade of the past, by which I mean it manages to be both accessible but weird, thanks to the combined forces of Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug, the co-commanders of the Canadian outfit. And even though the album is always building, it never seems like a strenuous uphill climb; Wolf Parade deliver tension and energy smoothly and easily.

Expo 86 begins with “Cloud Shadow On the Mountain,” which immediately pulls listeners into a fast-paced frenzy that continues for much of the album. Wolf Parade deliver a uniform feel from song to song, allowing for plenty of reveberating synths to showcase their interesting lyrics and echoey vocals. “Ghost Pressure” arrives in the middle of the album to offer a bit of variation, coupling repetitive synths with a steady, spirited beat, and “Yulia,” an intense, focused track toward the end, seems like a surprisingly poignant tune. The album closes with the strangely-named “Cave-O-Sapien,” a song that is just as excitingly energetic as the rest of the lively tracks. As with most of the album, moments of wackiness play into the song, with lyrics about a vision of a killer gorilla. But it’s moments like those that show that what Wolf Parade’s latest release lacks in diversity it makes up for in an idiosyncratic sort of ingenuity.

Track Listing:
01. Cloud Shadow on the Mountain
02. Palm Road
03. What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to Go This Way)
04. Little Golden Age
05. In the Direction of the Moon
06. Ghost Pressure
07. Pobody’s Nerfect
08. Two Men in New Tuxedos
09. Oh You, Old Thing
10. Yulia
11. Cave-O-Sapien