by Jason Hicks
Arcade Fire are without question one of the most exciting and promising acts to have emerged during the last decade. Sure bands like Animal Collective and TV on the Radio also belong in the discussion, but it is not too hard to make a case for Arcade Fire being on top of the heap of semi-recent artists. If you really need evidence of their hipster credentials, look no further than their 2004 release Funeral coming in at number two on Pitchfork's top albums of the 2000s list. I even gave it the number five slot here. When their sophomore album, Neon Bible, proved to be a darkly ambitious meditation on the intersection of capitalism and religion it was a statement that Arcade Fire were here to stay and no mere flash in the pan a la The Strokes.
Which brings us to the Montreal based band's recently released album The Suburbs, where the band seems to have dialed down the intensity and reduced the scale of their musical vision. Whereas on Neon Bible the band recorded in an abandoned church to capture their expansive sound, this time around the overall sound is smaller and less grandiose. Which is unfortunate because the band's propensity for spaciousness was one of the qualities that previously made them stand out from the typical four or five member indie rock band. Sure the string section is still there on many tracks, but a good amount of the time it seems to be relegated to the background. Take a song like "Suburban War"; at times it sounds like there's a choir and strings in the mix, but they are overpowered by the lead vocals and drums to an extent where they may as well not be present.
The other ingredient that has gone missing is the overall energy level and fervor that were hallmarks of Arcade Fire's sound previously. Out of the album's fifteen tracks I count no fewer than eleven that could be characterized as mid-tempo or ballads. Some of them actually work quite well like the snaking "Modern Man" and the juke joint flavored "City with No Children". But others like "Deep Blue" and "Half Light I" are merely plodding, and as far as soul bearing late album ballads go "Sprawl (Flatland)" is certainly no "My Body is a Cage". Things only really reach the frenetic peak that the band is known for a couple of times, most notably on the barn burners "Ready to Start" and "Empty Room". A little variation is always welcome, but when only two or three of the songs really feature any appreciable passion it becomes difficult to connect with the album on an emotional level.
Then there's the band's first foray into synth-pop on "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" which kind of sounds like Blondie's "Heart of Glass" without the killer bassline and disco beat, which is to say it isn't that great. Beyond that I'm not so sure candy colored synths really fit in so well with the Arcade Fire aesthetic, which previously was about connecting indie rock to older forms like chanson and Gypsy folk music. Similarly when a preset synth sound pops up at the end of "Ready to Start" it not only doesn't add anything, but it's a bit of a distraction and one has to wonder why exactly it was included.
The Suburbs isn't a complete failure, after several listens at least two thirds of the tracks grow to the point of being enjoyable. Lyrically there's a definite theme of the soulless quality of modern life running through the songs, as evoked by empty cities and kids standing "with their arms folded tight" when they should be dancing. But ironically if The Suburbs is an album that wishes to rail against the deadening effects of society, it ends up being a bit on the listless side itself. Perhaps it isn't reasonable to put this most recent offering up against the likes of two bona fide classics, but for better or for worse Arcade Fire are one of the top tier bands of the day and if they wish to remain so they will have to maintain the same standard of excellence of which they are capable.
To be fair if any other group had released this album I would probably be much quicker to sing its praises, and in the end it really is an album that has much to offer even if the specter of disappointment does lurk in its shadows. Where Arcade Fire go from here is anyone's guess, but with The Suburbs debuting at number one on the Billboard charts there is no doubt that the world will be listening.
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