Sunset Rubdown

Sunset Rubdown, "Three Colours"

Hello, hello, sorry for going missing for a few days, but in the aftermath of my most drunken, embarrassing night in my entire life, I didn't have much to say on much of anything. Self-loathing is a 24 hour a day pursuit, no time for diversions. Apologies to anyone who saw Pound for Pound that night, I'm a much better person than I showed.

What better way to celebrate these self-loathing, dark times than with some self-loathing, dark indie music? Exactly, no better way. Sunset Rubdown is the brainchild of Wolf Eyes singer and keyboardist Spencer Krug, a moniker Krug used for any solo project he had going. It appears that in the past year or two, he has expanded the concept, adding some more members and taking this group out on tour. For those in Philly, make sure to catch their show at the Church next Tuesday, as Sunset Rubdown plays with Frog Eyes for a mega hype band smackdown. New Yorkers should be grabbing tickets to their joint show at the Mercury Lounge, with the added hype of Beirut. The place might collapse under the weight of so much

A new full EP has just been released, but I've yet to grab a copy. The song above comes from the self-titled EP, Sunset Rubdown, from earlier this year, a 15 minute or so opus that left me wanting a lot more. It's really amazing, not as lo-fi as his prior work. It's drone-y at times, kinda psychedelic, the lyrics are morose and sad, Krug's voice reminds me a lot of one of my favorites, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah fame. The music is stuffed to the gills, filled with tons of different instruments from organs to guitars to pianos to much more. However, most impressively, it never sounds forced or too busy, at least to my ears. It actually has a baroque kinda feel to it, almost ancient in instrumentation and pace, again in the CYHSY vein, less dance-y and melodic than those guys, but similar.

Bows + Arrows, The BM Rant, The Catbirdseat, I Rock Cleveland, i (heart) music, i guess i'm floating and Motel de Moka have some older and newer tracks. I hope to have the new CD in the near-future, will try to up some of the newer, bigger band material. Go here to cop the EP for a great price.

-Gotta give props to Grey's Anatomy for a killer final two episodes of the season. I've been lukewarm on this show all year, despite MC's love for it, but the ending totally had me with the shooting of one of the doctors, the resumption of an affair with the two main characters and a bizarre heart transplant. It looks like ABC thinks just as highly of the show, as they have decided to move it to Thursday night to compete against CSI at 9 PM. Check out Grey's Anatomy Online to get your fan on (and dudes, don't think you're too much of a dude to do that.)

-George W. Bush: Words Speak Louder Than Actions. This is an amazing video that should have made it clear to anyone that Stephen Colbert is a national treasure, possessing bigger balls than every single member of the media. Sit back and enjoy this one, as scathing and hilarious an indictment of the President and the fact-challenged world they live in.

-For those who are interested in getting more involved in politics and can't stand the direction of the country, check out this book by Markos Moulitsas of dailykos and Jerome Armstrong of MyDD called Crashing the Gate. They are speaking in Philly Wednesday night at Drinker's Tavern (is this a joke?) in Old City, 123 Market Street. [Via Atrios]