Arcade Fire: The Suburbs

Posted by Troy | Filed under Music

I really like Coldplay.

Some might think I’m an indie rock snob, but the fact is that I still like Coldplay and U2 and Weezer and B.O.B. and Alicia Keys and Smashing Pumpkins and The Beatles and Pearl Jam and Stevie Wonder and a ton of other world-touring radio-friendly artists.

So I really like Coldplay a lot.

But I really don’t think everything needs to sound just like Coldplay.

Starting around 2006, it seemed like every single new song you’d hear was someone trying to be Coldplay. You could hardly blame record companies for trying to monetize what had become “the sound” of the past decade… just the right amount of falsetto and dissonance and a piano intro/bridge and you’ve got a pretty good chance at being on the radio.

So around that same time I was very lucky to discover Arcade Fire

Here is a band whose sound is… how you say….. full, majestic, epic? enough to deserve an “arena rock” description…. that doesn’t sound anything like Coldplay.

(and isn’t metal either)

I’ve been looking forward to their new album The Suburbs ever since Neon Bible came out.

Oddly enough, I didn’t see the hype that typically surrounds a new indie follow-up to a record like Neon Bible that solidified the group as “the real deal.”

(like remember when Contra came out earlier this year?)

No, it quietly released this week to a fraction of the fanfare that it deserves.

And I’m kind of glad. Because hype can be like kryptonite to a great band.

It’s almost impossible to write about an album like this. To choose a single track or lyric to share is so hard because everything is just so good. (though I enjoyed John’s track-by-track musings)

There is always a hint of disappointment when my favorite band/artist releases something new that doesn’t sound exactly like their last, but that always subsides after a few listens when I’m glad for something new, truly appreciate the greatness of their last (that couldn’t be duplicated) and admit that they know more than I do about making classic music.

Once again, Arcade Fire has managed to paint a portrait that resonates with most of us. Like the loss of Funeral or the religion/nation/culture-turned-on-itself themes of Neon Bible , this new album is territory so familiar it’s eerie.

The Suburbs.

While reading the lyrics and listening along I more-than-once double-taked because I thought I heard a Roy Orbison song playing, and I was transported in a Ratatouille kind of way to simple times and simple places in my simple past.

Places that are the same. People that are the same. Churches that are the same… same streets, same houses, same yards, fences, dogs, malls and TGIFridays.

The American dream of sameness that has removed the adventure from our collective narrative and replaced it with the illusion of security and comfort.

The sameness that seems so comfortable and safe may be the most dangerous place of all.

from “Ready to Start”