Arcade Fire–The Suburbs Are In Ruin…

My oh my… Looks like somebody grew up in some gangsta-ass suburbs.  Compton is like, “Pffft…”  (See, Compton doesn’t have to say anything else cause like, you KNOW they KNOW how shit is…)  Okay, I have absolutely confused myself and I am one damn sentence into this frigging blog… Sigh…

Well, let’s first say CONGRATS, ARCADE FIRE!  These Canadian (some of them anyway) cats won Album of the Year at the Grammys.  Werd.  I really am rather stoked about this.  Why?  Because shut up.

I am not an Arcade Fire neophyte.  I have not listened to anything (at length) from Arcade Fire other than “The Suburbs.”  I do NOT think this album will cure cancer or develop the longer lasting orgasm.  I find it absolutely listenable while working or blogging (and frequently use it for such purposes).  I would absolutely NOT blast this out of Gansta Vicki’s hooptie in my hood, your hood or anyone else’s hood for that matter–save maybe the hipster hood; but even then you’ll probably get laughed at or at the very least, judged.  Nope, this is not crack the pavement, turn nor keep headz ringin’ material.  This is SUBUUUURRRRBBBSSS!  (think 300)

Arcade Fire… Such an interesting topic.  Mostly because of the listeners; though I mean that as no disrespect to the band.  I do not, as stated, have any vested interest with them and I am new to their music.  I had heard some of their “Neon Bible” and ‘Funeral’ albums; but I was WAY underwhelmed and just figured the people digging it were imbibing the kool-aid yet again.

I think the thing that was a sticking point about the angels-descending-from-heaven-and-nachos-for-everyone band known as Arcade Fire were the damn vocals.  Dude could just not sing.  Or at least that was how it seemed according to the videos and tracks I had heard from various sites–these would have been tracks from “Funeral” and ‘Neon Bible.’

I know, I know… “It’s all about the EMOTION AND ENERGY, Jas…  You just don’t get it.”  To this I simply say, put some fucking emotion and energy into learning how to play and vocal lessons, damn your eyes!  But pretentious fanboys right the fuck aside… Let’s talk about something else.  I will get back to “Neon Bible” and ‘Funeral’ soon.  I intend to go purchase them and give them a really damn good listening-to; and give them as fair of a shake as a fanboy gives strangers in bathrooms.

The Suburbs.  Dude, I like this album.  I really kinda do.  Not ashamed.  It’s not particularly awesome or anything; it just is a damn nice blogging album.  I like this shit in the background.  I like the way this guy (Win Butler) totally makes a mini-series out of a molehill.  I like the fact that he is either from Houston or lived in Houston or once read a book about Houston or some shit… I have no idea.  He mentions Houston in “City With No Children” (at least I think that’s the one).  Either way, “City With No Children” is a good song.  Nice harmonies, good feel, so on and so forth.  Oh yeah, I’m from Houston originally which is why I’m all like, “Yeah, oh wow, like awesome… That guy totally was once in a city I was in with the other 2.3 million people we were in the city with and junk!”

If I seem reluctant (to “like them”), it’s because I really didn’t care to like these guys and gals.  I really didn’t.  I had only recently come around on Radiohead and honestly I was exhausted from meeting the damn musically religious zealots halfway, I really was.

I mean, come on…  Do you just immediately buy the “foot-flavored” Doritos because some asshole tells you ‘they’re the bizzle-dizzle?’  If you do, well, enjoy your chips, brah.  No hate for you.  It’s fine.  It’s just not me.  I am IMMEDIATELY skeptical of something that is “all the rage” with anyone; I don’t care how young and with-it and professionally urban they seem.  I mean, fuck those guys.  They’re constantly laughing and smiling like they’re in a party and they’re only pumping gas for crissakes!  It’s not that much fun to buy a soda at McDonald’s.  I should know… I’ve bought sodas before and it’s almost NEVER fun!  I want some of that soda-buying fun!

WHAT’S YOUR SECRET, YOU HAPPY BASTARDS?!!!!

Ahem.

Marketing and advertising aside, I’m talking about “word-of-mouth.”  In this case, word of mouth means every asshole with some sort of appendage which may be employed to push keys on a keyboard; which in turn spew their innermost feelings on people who don’t like fucking Arcade Fire.  Like bloggers!  And no, I’m not a blogger, I’m a musician.  So eat my bum.

All silliness aside, (many things aside this blog, eh?) Arcade Fire fans are really rather outspoken.  They simply MUST tell you how Win is a poet and Régine is a goddess and all this and that.  If you disagree they will call you “fag” or tell you that you have absolutely no taste in music.  This is usually interspersed with “fag” or ‘fuck’ something or another.  Basically, if you’re not actively giving Win Butler a blowjob (literally or figuratively on an internet message board) then you simply aren’t ever capable of achieving what it means to be cool.  In fact, you should “kill yourself now” or something along these lines.

It’s nice to know that all you really need to achieve in life is to like an indie band.  Once you’ve got that handled… Shit dude… You’re fucking IN THERE.  Money and chicks are literally gonna just show up at your door.  Who am I kidding?  The chicks will answer the door to get the pizza that the pizza guy is delivering along with the bags of money and shit.  Xbox is going to be giving you achievements the whole time too.  You’re fucking supersonic dude!  Rawk.

*NOTE… We interrupt this -ahem- “blog” to bring you something of note.  Apparently “BOOTYLICIOUS” is a perfectly acceptable word and is in the Microsoft Outlook dictionary.  I was writing an email to my lovely wife, Business-Vicki, and we were talking about the weather and I mentioned something being “bootylicious…”  (I think it was something about the warmer temperatures we’ve been experiencing)  Well, the Microsoft spell check loves it some “bootylicious” shit (unlike WordPress, apparently) because it had no problem whatsoever with me typing that particularly useful word.  Fracking interesting, right?  Well… Back to the satirical stylings of whatever the fuck I was talking about before… I think it was nachos and beer, right?

I hate when I interrupt myself.  So yeah, you like indie shit and you’re cool.  Yada yada.

But let me actually say something about the album.

What do I like?  Well, I dig a lot of the album.  But I ACTIVELY dig the following tracks:

“The Suburbs, Empty Room, City With No Children, Suburban War, Wasted Hours, We Used To Wait, Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains).”

Quite a lot, isn’t it?  That’s my point.  I like a LOT of this album and there’s nothing on it that I don’t like.  The worst that I can say about some of the tracks is “meh.”  I see “Modern Man” and ‘Rococo’ getting a lot of love on YouTube; but I just don’t think those are as strong as the other tracks.  “Modern Man” is better than ‘Rococo’ in my opinion; but neither are single material.  Just mine…

The song that got me to give them a fair shake was “The Suburbs.”  Sounds like a Doors song with more whiny/indie vocals.  (I mean no disrespect–Win does that “indie” vocal very well.  He certainly grew as a singer since the earlier albums–lots of practice will do that for you and these guys are huge)  It’s really pretty pretentious and turns “suburban life” into a tortured artist’s sulky wet dream.  All of the preceding sentence should preclude me from liking absolutely anything about this song; but they still pulled me in.  That’s saying something.  Did I WANT to like them on some subconscious level..?  I’m not sure… Maybe I just want to fit in like they do?

Maybe I’m onto something… Maybe that’s why I’m giving Radiohead a chance…  Maybe that’s why I’m playing nice with Arcade Fire.  Maybe that’s why I went back and listened to Blur (I was more Team Oasis, if Oasis was a sparkly vampire and I was a 12 year old girl).  Maybe I’m tired of arguing with myself and others over just what the hell is so special about bands that are so obviously below another in skill level, vocal ability, song writing and so on…

I believe I’m starting to grow in this fashion.  I find myself listening to a lot of music that most certainly does not “rock.”  I catch my toes tapping to out of time drums and there is a slight nodding of my head to a sloppy guitar riff on an out-of-tune guitar.  How can this be?  Hidden messages in the music?  Am I being hypnotized?  Are the warbling yelps and too-put-on strained vocals of indie bands singing me a pitch-y siren’s song?  That must be it, right?

Or is there really something to this?

That’s what I asked myself until I realized:  It’s just music.  Listen to it.  Like it or don’t like it.  Stop dissecting the shit out of it and just let it be.  You don’t have to like everything because everyone else does–but I ALSO don’t have to dislike it because of the same reason.  I found that I was the type to instantly NOT follow the crowd.  If ten of you liked it… Then you people were just fucking sheep.

Yes… You got it.  I was a hipster.  I couldn’t be bothered with your shit because you just weren’t on my level.

Man, was I wrong.

I want to apologize to a lot of bands out there… I didn’t give your shit a chance because you had too many people who liked what you did.  Arcade Fire, I apologize.  “The Suburbs” is a great album.  I listen to it quite a bit as I work on my blogs–it’s excellent background music–but I also listen to it in the car because it’s also very enjoyable to actively listen to as well as passively.

Well done, indie band extraordinaire!  I, who am eating crow, salute you!