There’s something inherently likable about about Spencer Krug. Just ask Wolf Parade bandmate Dan Boeckner who snidely referred to him as the guy that everybody likes. Although that was a clear barb, Boeckner has a point. Dante DeCaro, another fellow Wolf Parade member likes him enough to continue touring with Krug (under the moniker of opener Johnny & The Moon). Fellow Canadians Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes) and Dan Bejar (Destroyer) like him enough to work with him on their own side… and main… projects. And I liked him enough to buy a copy of Sunset Rubdown’s new album Random Spirit Lover after their show last night even though I had been thoroughly underwhelmed with its predecessor. Krug’s stage persona, which consists of equal parts boisterous keyboard pounder and almost shy, reluctant frontman were enough to endear himself to last night’s audience, even when the music failed to do so.

Unlike the project for which he is the most well-known, Sunset Rubdown is not always easily accessible. Anyone who has listened to last year’s release, Shut Up I Am Dreaming knows that Sunset Rubdown is not the drunken Guiness-swinging music of Apologies to the Queen Mary. Krug’s signature wail and keyboard parts aside, any number of the Sunset Rubdown tracks actually share more in common with Krug collaborator Dan Bejar’s main act, Destroyer. Unfortunately, this means that some of these tracks have picked up a sort of unaccessible pretention which only really works some of the time. Those more difficult tracks also fell short on stage at the Black Cat, but because Krug & co. really allowed themselves to cut loose and immerse themselves in these heavily nuanced rock songs which made them both effective and powerful performers.