Review: Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Sergio reviews Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs.

Artist Name: Arcade Fire
Album Name: The Suburbs
Year: 2010
Genre: Indie Rock

There’s been a lot of hype around Canadian indie rockers Arcade Fire since they dethroned Lady Gaga from the top of the Last.fm charts. Truth be told, they’ve been around for nearly 7 years and it’s actually a travesty that they’re only really getting mainstream attention now. If you aren’t familiar with Arcade Fire’s sound, it’s a distinguished brand of innovative indie rock flavoured by sullen lyrics and a lot of instrumentation (these guys often chop and change on stage as they conduct their mini orchestra).

Let’s be honest, indie rock has become pretty bland and it needed a rightful kick up the balloon knot to get back on track, which Arcade Fire have undoubtedly done with their latest release. The Suburbs has been critically praised for its variety and originality. It’s a masterful sonic record that picks and chooses all the right pieces from the different eras of music and combines it tremendously well to create a fluid and entertaining release. The tracks can be slightly playful (‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’), garage rock-powered (‘Month of May’) or downright epic (‘Half Light II (No Celebration)’); the diversity is where the major strength of The Suburbs lies and it’s transparently obvious that this was a well-thought out and planned collection of songs.

A few people might find the lyrics too angry and sulky, but it really does add to the atmosphere. C’mon, show me the one person who is entirely satisfied living in the suburbs! For example, I hate the jersey-wearing poodle who yaps up and down the road and my neighbour’s insistence of playing Wamdue Project’s ‘King of My Castle’ a decade after it was moderately cool – nothing  wrong with a little negativity to piss off all the happy chappies! Win Butler and Régine Chassagne do a marvellous job conveying the brutally honest lyrics.

In conclusion, I have only one final statement: believe the hype – The Suburbs is a terrific release!

Best Tracks: ‘The Suburbs’, ‘Empty Room’, ‘Deep Blue’, and ‘Month of May’

91/100

- Sergio Pereira
sergio@musicreview.co.za
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