This overlooked b-side to Subtle's "Mercury Craze" single is technically kind of old at this point, but it's too cool to fade away without any sort of closer attention. The backstory is that Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner was given the dense-as-hell lyric sheets for the thematically linked "Middleclass Stomp" and "Middleclass Kill" from last year's sick indie-rock/rap hybrid For Hero: For Fool, then asked to take what he wanted and ignore the rest.
The track starts in usual Subtle fashion, with Doseone's pinched delivery framed by a ragged beat mixed bloody red. Almost immediately, as the strumming starts and Broeckner's world-weary croak pushes Dose into a supporting role, it's apparent that this isn't going to be the standard next-level rhyme in indie-rock clothing. Chucking all but a handful of key lines lets the existential dread of the chosen few hit harder and linger longer. Boeckner's deliberate reading highlights the Willy Loman tragedy of stunners like "Welcome to the no-gamble grind/ of what seems middle class and above."
"Haunt" is the right noun, because only a specter of the source material's brilliantly angry richness remains. However, for songs so troubled by the prospect of losing artistic fire in the blur of careerist money matters, maybe a dash of defeated melody is the more emotionally affecting choice.
Also, with the disproportionate attention Spencer Krug's gotten this year, it's nice to know Boeckner isn't trapped in a well somewhere...