Their tendency to jam out- not entirely surprising given bassist Brendan Canning's striking Trey Anastasio-meets-Elmo look- turn the seven-minute "Bandwitch" into an aimless jumble. Such insular stubbornness leads to Broken Social Scene's few overly self-indulgent moments, when their lack of inhibitions turns from charming to faintly annoying. Another live favorite and possible crossover contender, "Superconnected", is still catchy on record, but Newfeld's all-at-once, in-between-vox production subverts any chance at overt smashdom. But here, that version is relegated to an accompanying EP (otherwise filled with mostly expendable outtakes and instrumentals) while the album version is slowed down and fogged up- and decidedly less single-worthy. On the wispy, faux-idyllic "Major Label Debut", the chorus could be "I'm all hooked up" or "I'm all fucked up," but either meaning snidely puts down the rockstar clichés Broken Social Scene are determined to avoid.Īnyone's who's been to a Broken Social Scene show over the past few years probably knows "Major Label Debut" as a rollicking, open hi-hat dust storm. With no accompanying lyric sheet, most of the album's highly interpretable words not only provide fans with a time-wasting message-board guessing game but add another layer of atmospheric haze to the group's already out-there takes on sex, politics, and that whole indies-vs.-majors thing. That track's garbled vocals and lyrical ambiguity are filtered throughout this record. Buried between the static and the void, mumbled vocals are folded in before the brass enters and elevates the endeavor to fist-pumping, room-on-fire glory. Like the shaky ascent of a homemade rocketship, the song constantly teeters on cataclysmic oblivion shards of chords slip away and grind against each other as the track embarks. "Ibi" breaks in with a woozy, five-alarm guitar- a warning call for the track's off-key surrealism and pile-on distortion. But, however symbolic, "Faces" is only a casual stretch, with follower "Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Half)" serving as the album's first true workout. The contrasting titles alone- one direct, one Dali-esque- speak volumes. Just consider each disc's mood-setting introduction: YFIIP's "Capture the Flag" is muted and tasteful BSS's "Our Faces Split the Coast in Half" gets out of bed, trips, falls down, does a sloppy summersault, and gets back up no worse for the wear. Whereas You Forgot It in People was exacting and refined- each cymbal crash snipped to perfection, each underlying string melody was spare and to-the-point- Broken Social Scene is wily and flowing. This exercise in excess makes the ambitious You Forgot It in People seem positively understated by comparison.ĭe facto band leader Kevin Drew recently told Pitchfork that Broken Social Scene producer (and NYPD punching bag) David Newfeld "got addicted to the idea of trying to top YFIIP." He added: "His massage therapist says he might die in 10 years unless he changes his lifestyle." It's Newfeld's risky mixing and uncanny knack for coalescing myriad instruments and voices into a propulsive whole that defines this new album. Now, with file-sharers queuing up like mad and pre-orders bumping them to Amazon Top 50 status, the collective reacts to the furor by expanding and magnifying another six members join the brood for its self-titled third full-length, and the band's once-refined studio sound is blown up into a pixilated blur of blood-gush guitars and squall-of-sound production that's somehow meticulously unhinged.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |