Moonface – Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped
Self-explanatory. Thank you, Spencer Krug. The Wolf Parade keyboardist already released one EP as Moonface, in which he explored all he could do with a marimba and drums. Now it’s the organ’s turn, and presumably there’s a failed vibraphone record on a cutting room floor somewhere.
Things begin well enough. “The Violence of the Ocean Floor” is epic in length but not in style, its final musical breakdown an unexpectedly warm and light-hearted ending that saves the song from the threat of complete mundanity. The same cannot be said of all the other songs, nor certainly the album as a whole. Partly, it’s a result of the organ sound which tends to bog down the music when featured in such high quantity and with so little backup. Another part of it is Krug’s sparse lyrical style. Plenty of people have written seven-minute songs with only one instrument, but they tend to pack in as many words in as possible to keep you interested.
Then there’s the most unfortunate part: Krug was always instrumentally weird on his earlier Wolf Parade songs. His lyrics, though, were heart-on-sleeve and direct enough to maintain accessibility (there was also the rest of the band that helped bring him back from the edge). On Organ Music, Krug’s lyrics tend toward perplexing, perhaps impenetrable imagery. Weird imagery is fine. So are organs. So are very simple drum beats (the only other thing you’ll hear on the album). But the combination of the three makes for music that either fades into the background or, if you listen intently, drags on.
This overall experience can prevent you from appreciating the good moments on the album. “Fast Peter,” a song about the breakdown of a long-distance relationship, ends with Krug softly crooning the post break-up words: “She’s the one, the one that he thinks of when he thinks of love.” It’s a line to grasp on to and think about, at least, as Krug riffs interminably on his organ in the background.
Some reviewers have argued that Organ Music falters largely due to Krug’s inability to self-edit. The problem goes beyond that. On “Fast Peter” and “Violence of the Ocean Floor,” some editing may have been the difference between an average song and a great one. But on the other tracks, it’s the hearts of the songs that misfire, and no amount of editing can fix that.
