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| From | "Stewart Mason" <craigtorso@verizon.net> |
| Subject | Re: Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire |
| Date | Sun, 29 Apr 2007 13:12:20 -0400 |
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I think the appeal of the Arcade Fire can be entirely summed up in the
first 45 seconds of "Power Out (Neighborhood #3)," which is probably
the most exciting intro of any radio hit that I've heard in the last
five years or so. Every time I hear it on the radio (it still gets
regular play on both The Verge, XM's indie Can-Con channel, and WFNX),
I pretty much have to stop whatever I'm doing for the next five
minutes, because it's one of those songs that demands attention both
in its groove -- the Talking Heads comparison is quite correct -- and
in the depth of its arrangement. Among other virtues, this song has
the single most rocking glockenspiel part in the history of popular
music.
While "Power Out" is the purest expression of all that is good about
the Arcade Fire, its virtues are on display through the rest of their
catalogue as well. The level of seemingly unfeigned sincerity and
occasional tendency towards bombast links them to early U2 as well as
the previously mentioned Springsteen comparison, while the overall
sound of their records (that unusual instrumentation and highly
detailed arrangements) ties them to another of my current favorite
Canadian bands, Broken Social Scene: if the folks in BSS had any
interest in writing songs with conventional hooks and verse-chorus
structures, they would likely sound very much like the Arcade Fire.
So that's the appeal.
Modest Mouse: apparently, college kids still like weed.
S
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