ALWAYS HAPPY TO EXPLODE
A CONVERSATION WITH SPENCER KRUG OF SUNSET RUBDOWN
Experimental indie-rock band Sunset Rubdown will soon release their fourth album, Always Happy to Explode — the first since they broke up in 2009. They got back together in 2023 and still are going strong… all because of a dream?
“It sounds like a corny, made-up story,” says creator and frontman Spencer Krug. “In the dream, we were writing music again, we were enjoying each other’s company, we were liking being onstage. People were hanging out after, and we were laughing and partying with strangers… all the things that sort of happen while being on tour with the band, when the band is healthy and happy.” He woke up with the initial disappointment that it wasn’t reality… until he then realized maybe it could be. “There’s no reason why, at this point in my life, I can’t see if the band wants to reunite.” He proposed the idea to his former bandmates, and they were all on board. It was settled: Sunset Rubdown would record and tour together again.
Twenty years ago, Krug gave the name “Sunset Rubdown” to solo recordings that were too offbeat for his then up-and-coming band Wolf Parade. By 2005, Sunset Rubdown had become a full band. Krug, on lead vocals, guitar, and keys, was joined by guitarist Michael Doerksen, drummer Jordan Robson-Cramer, and keyboardist/percussionist Camilla Wynne.
What was it like to play together after all this time? “Interpersonally it was a lot better this time around because we all grew up; we had all the years of experience under our belt. Emotionally, it was way easier and felt a lot better,” Krug says. “There was also an air of celebration because none of us had expected the band to get back together, which carried over into the music as we relearned the songs, and into the performances as we learned to be onstage together again. And that’s what made the reunion tour so fun.” The band began the tour in Montreal in March 2023, and then played 13 more shows in Canada and the U.S.
ALWAYS HAPPY TO EXPLODE ALBUM REVIEW
The band’s current iteration looks a little different: multi-instrumentalist Nicholas Merz, who opened on their tour, has joined full time on bass, while guitarist Doerksen was unavailable this time around. The band were faced with some hurdles during the two weeks they had to record the album. Robson-Cramer tested positive for COVID-19, frozen pipes led to a lack of running water for 11 days, and Merz briefly left. But in the end, that didn’t stop the band; they didn’t have time to deliberate or overthink the songs, and they channelled that energy to record the album mostly live off the floor.
There’s a somewhat more stripped-down feeling on it than on previous Sunset Rubdown albums. “My singing voice has changed,” Krug says. “I’m a little less bombastic, a little more subdued than I would have been 15 years ago in the recording studio. The energy is still there; it’s just more controlled.” And rather than replace Doerksen on guitar, they decided just to record without him. “I think it made us really think about how to structure the songs,” Krug says. “It’s a little less electric guitar than maybe the hardcore Sunset Rubdown fan is used to. But it’s still very much the same vibe.”
The ever-prolific Krug, who has also been involved in projects such as Frog Eyes, Swan Lake, and Moonface, began an account on the online subscription platform Patreon in 2019. Every month, he posted a new song he’d written, and this continued for five years straight. Always Happy to Explode features nine tracks that were hand-picked from the Patreon, with many having been reworked from their previous incarnations. The entire band was fully involved in the decision-making process. “We ultimately just said, ‘This is what feels like the record,'” Krug says. “There are probably a lot of themes of introspection, self-acceptance, and love… quiet, settled-down, latter-half-of-life kind of love.” Between the solitude of writing songs during the pandemic and becoming a new dad, “my whole life sort of turned upside-down, and a lot of the songs are me processing that change.”
The lead single, “Reappearing Rat,” is “an upbeat, acoustic guitar-driven ode to the tiny monster that lives in our heads,” per Krug; “the one that makes itself known anytime blessings such as serenity, clarity, or acceptance are on our emotional horizons.” The second single, “Cliché Town”, is part piano ballad, part exuberant indie rock tune, and lyrically conveys the feeling of being stuck in a small town.
“I’m happy with how the record turned out,” Krug says.
Always Happy to Explode will be released September 20.
Tour Dates
10/10/24 Thu Vancouver BC Rickshaw Theatre
10/11/24 Fri Seattle WA Crocodile
10/12/24 Sat Portland OR Wonder Ballroom
10/14/24 Mon San Francisco CA Bimbo’s
10/15/24 Tue Los Angeles CA Teragram Ballroom
10/16/24 Wed Tucson AZ 191 Toole
10/18/24 Fri Austin TX The Parish
10/19/24 Sat Dallas TX Club Dada
10/20/24 Sun Baton Rouge LA Chelsea’s
10/21/24 Mon Atlanta GA Terminal West
10/22/24 Tue Durham NC Motorco Music Hall
10/23/24 Wed Washington DC Black Cat
10/24/24 Thu Philadelphia PA First Unitarian Church
10/25/24 Fri Catskills NY Glen Falls House
10/26/24 Sat Northampton MA Iron Horse Music Hall
10/27/24 Sun New York NY Irving Plaza
10/29/24 Tue Montreal QC La Tulipe
10/30/24 Wed Toronto ON Concert Hall
Artist Links
Photo Credits: Terry Ondang | Album Art Credit: Patrick MacLachlan
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SUNSET RUBDOWN – ALWAYS HAPPY TO EXPLODE
