Spencer Krug is a songwriter who’s already lived many lives, even if his youngest fans only just discovered his music—with Wolf Parade or otherwise—during the penultimate episode of this winter’s du-jour HBO Max series. It’s his period under the Moonface name that comes to mind, though, on his latest recording under his given name, which will be included on next month’s Same Fangs LP, Krug’s fourth solo album since ditching the slightly more experimentally minded moniker. “Berserker Mode” is a piano-centric cut reminiscent of his City Wrecker EP, only with a bit more pep that’s abetted by light percussion and backing vocals from Elbow Kiss.
“‘Berserker Mode’ started as a solo piano song for my Patreon page,” Krug shares of the track’s origins. “The kinetic nature of the repeating riff is quite physically fun to play on piano, and I think the lyrics—about watching a friend (or yourself?) fall into the same self-made pitfalls over and over again in life—are alright, but I wasn’t sure about adding the song to this album just because of how short and simple it is. It wasn’t until Em [Elbow Kiss] added their vocal harmonies that I knew the song was a keeper. They really brought the song to life for me. The eleventh-hour addition of percussion didn’t hurt either. I can’t wait to do this one on tour.”
True to the track’s aggressive title, the music video sees Krug—hammer in hand—going berserker mode on a wood guardrail in one of its frames, with some other, far less intense-sounding stuff going on in the frames that surround it. Check it out below, and pre-order Same Fangs ahead of its May 15 release via Krug’s own Pronounced Kroog label here.
