Otherworldly Masterpiece

Sunset Rubdown’s latest studio album, “Dragonslayer,” confirms it: Lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Spencer Krug has the Midas touch of indie rock. Since his tenure with the his first band – Frog Eyes – Krug can simply do no wrong, creating nothing but critically acclaimed, best-selling records.

Instead of producing rehashed and recycled music, Sunset Rubdown made another masterpiece in “Dragonslayer.”

Following the successful example of 2007’s “Random Spirit Lover,” Krug’s songs and compositions in “Dragonslayer” sound like an update, or the second half, of a double-album rather than a completely original creative paradigm shift.

Like “Random Spirit Lover,” obscure, infectious lyrics and catchy melodies fill this overflowing record.

However, also like “Random Spirit Lover,” “Dragonslayer” repeated both what Sunset Rubdown did right and wrong.

From the very start of the album, “Dragonslayer” transports its canty, discerning listeners to Krug’s imaginary reality.

In the opening track, “Silver Moons,” a laboring piano, anchoring drum beats and shining guitar chords usher in Krug’s quivering voice singing, “Confetti floats away like dead leaves in the wagon’s wake / There were parties here in my honor till you sent me away / And now silver moons belong to you.”

With his fragile vocals and otherworldly lyrics, Krug brings to life a fantasy made and maintained solely by his metaphors and figurative stories.

Yet, for the casual listener, “Dragonslayer” simply might offer too many challenges, despite its accessible instrumentals.

The album’s dense, maladroit lyrics present a maze of concepts spiked with thorny ambiguities and tangents.

Its greatest flaws lie in a few disjointed songs. Both “Apollo And The Buffalo And Anna Anna Anna Oh!” and “Nightingale/December Song” merited to be split in two.

However, these fragmented songs only detract from “Dragonslayer” as a meticulously constructed concept album. Instead, each song stands strong as a single.

And in the end, the album rewards listeners just like fantasy and sci-fi books reward readers: Each offers fictional worlds worth exploring over and over.