Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

Speaking of Spencer Krug, Sunset Rubdown is his main gig – his main band in which he has now released three stellar albums with. This album, Dragonslayer, is easily still my most favorite album of all of 2009: it has heart, it has poignant stories, it has tremendous dynamics and diversity and it definitely has some of the most uplifting moments I could remember on any album from that year. I remember buying this and I think it’s the only vinyl I own that is autographed by all the band members; they were amazing to see live and even that experience still seems surreal. I tend to canonize things too much but in respect to what else came out, this is probably still the best album Krug has been involved in, in my opinion of course. And although this is the only song I will mention here, because it’s just so long and because I just found this amazing video for it, the entire album feels like one huge, gripping ride.

The last song, “Dragon’s Lair,” is not only the perfect kind of closure you would want – epic, plenty of different moods and a spectacular theme – but it’s this ten-minute beast of a song that is a thrilling ride all on its own. The story circles a dragon slayer who is realizing that at this point of his life, “it’s time for a bigger kind of kill.” He bids goodbye to his lover but in the most confident of ways, “I am sharpening my sword…so you can take me to the dragon’s lair, you can take me to Rapunzel’s windowsill.” And in the end, it’s still a love story on its own as he sings, “I see your face…when I close my eyes.” – Bryan