Spencer Krug is best known as the Bowie-sounding dude from Wolf Parade, though some will now acknowledge that he is also the Bowie-sounding dude from Sunset Rubdown. Sunset Rubdown was originally the name for Krug’s lo-fi solo recordings, though it’s since expanded into a four-member, full band project. The songs are naturally in the same vein as the ones he’s written for Wolf Parade (‘You Are A Runner…’ and ‘I’ll Believe In Anything’ among them), but the new lineup rooted in his former solo status lets him get away with all kinds of sonic business that the often formulaic Wolf Parade wouldn’t. This sound lets songs like ‘Stadiums and Shrines II’ and the title track stretch out to massive proportions, but it also diminishes the mellower ones that could noticeably use the drive of a steady rock band. Shut Up I Am Dreaming ends up being a choppy record — some of the songs are near perfect, while others feel like unfinished demos that scrape by on weird imagery alone.
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