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$14.99 CD
$26.99 LPx2+MP3
$9.99 MP3
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ARCADE FIRE
The Suburbs
(Merge Records)
 "Modern Man"
"Half Light II (No Celebration)"
Arcade Fire really are the rarest breed of modern indie bands -- and not just because they have sold close to a million albums in the US alone, and can headline Madison Square Garden for two nights. This sprawling seven-piece Montreal group have become superstars without a dime of corporate money, turning their backs on the lure of a big-money label deal, and also the easy money and exposure of commercial licensing. And moreover, they have stuck with the antiquated notion of producing albums the old-fashioned way, played live by real musicians, recorded on tape, meant to be listened to as full albums rather than singles, and full of heavy themes like death, corruption, modernization and the pursuit of truth and love. They have reached the masses by staying true to their youthful ideals, and that back-story alone gives added weight to the truth-seeking nature of their lyrics.
The Suburbs is the group's third full-length for Merge Records, and it is their best work yet. The songs muse on modern life seen through the prism of youth, and then adulthood, spent in sprawling faceless suburbs, as most lives seem to be spent these days (and as bandleader Win Butler and his brother/bandmate Will's childhoods were). And Butler (and wife/songwriting partner Régine Chassagne) manages to approach the subject with a thoughtfulness that asks more questions than it tries to answer -- Butler wants to see the soul-numbing sprawl shaken to its foundation, but he also wants children and family and a steady job and a safe place to lay his head, and despite his high moral standards, he knows that real life is often built on sacrifice.
The themes, while heady and ambitious, are not nearly as bombastic as those on the group's 2007 colossus Neon Bible, and the music also reflects this more measured approach. Arcade Fire will always be a sweeping, epic band, and the sound here is closer to stadium standards from Bruce Springsteen and U2 than any modest indie trifle. But The Suburbs has stepped back from the dense orchestration of that last record, in favor of the raw beauty of a great band hitting a great groove, with piano chords, strummed guitars, and lock-step drums holding most of this thing together; understated keyboard and guitar flourishes set the mood and create depth and texture while Butler and Chassagne's subtle, infectious melodies guide the group well beyond the dull workaday life, up up and away into the stars.
The Suburbs rocks out, it lays back, it sprawls and it speaks its mind. It is long and full of peaks and valleys; it takes some great and surprising detours (like the "Heart of Glass"-like electro bounce of Chassagne vehicle "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)," and it is a journey well worth taking. In "We Used to Wait," a strutting muse on the accelerating speed of life, based around the anticipation we used to feel waiting for a letter to arrive, Butler howls at the end: "We used to wait for it, we used to wait for it, and now we're screaming 'sing the chorus again'." It's a central theme to The Suburbs, and maybe to Arcade Fire. Enjoy the quiet moments, and wait for the exaltation. [JM]
Order CD by Texting "omcdarcadesuburbs" to 767825
Order LP by Texting "omlparcadesuburbs" to 767825 |
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