2017 Arcade Fire LP

I think 'banksy' in this context refers to the superficial sloganeering on the new Arcade Fire album - every chorus is just three words shouted repeatedly.

haven't read the review yet, but cynical, shallow ~truth telling~ about our times? xpsts

the Discotheque video aside, Pop as an album is thematically pretty serious and dark. maybe "Miami" is a little bit on the consumerism tip, maybe "The Playboy Mansion" too, but i think w/the latter at least it's going for something else. also Pop is still underrated (even by the band itself) and Arcade Fire has always been vastly overrated, also not as good or fun in their dance music dalliances as U2 was.

Oh, I agree, I don't think Pop the album is particularly ironic, at least not dramatically so. But once they toured behind it, that was the giant lemon, Neil Diamond karaoke sing alongs, the disco balls and glitter suits. I can understand Arcade Fire maybe being bored, or wanting to challenge themselves somehow, but not only are they really the wrong band to do this, it seems way too early in their career for some sort of giant ironic statement on fame. Especially because they are not particularly famous, not in the celebrity Bono rock star sense.

We Don't Deserve Love is my favorite thing in here and it's very different to anything they've done before.

When releasing the singles the band themselves released the opening three songs then skipped the stretch from Peterpan to Infinite Content and released Electric Blue. Which makes me think they knew that stretch is fucking terrible but released it anyway.

It's the first three songs on Side A and the first song on side B, I suspect (there are four short interludes on the album, which I don't count). Yeah, it's old school lp filler.

Speaking of U2, this AF album scans like a similarly mistimed miscalculation to U2's Joshua Tree nostalgia tour. Now, I get the U2 tour was massively successful, so this is totally aesthetic armchair, but if ever we needed (as much as we needed anything from U2 these days) a return of Zoo TV it's now. Likewise, if ever AF should have played to their strengths and returned to earnest and angry catharsis, it's now as well. No one needs ironic dance music from a rock band, period, let alone from these dudes. Let alone a *second* one from these dudes.

"way too early in their career for some sort of giant ironic statement on fame"

Unless you're Lady Gaga.

She's a lot more traditionally celebrity/image-driven than AF. Like, being visible is her (part of her) thing. AF might be successful, but it's a stretch to call them famous. I'd wager people are more likely to take pictures of Lurch Butler because he is really tall than because they recognize him as the guy from AF.

on first listen, this is at the very least way better than reflektor. "we don't deserve love" is a great side b surprise.

Yup. And personally, I can forgive a lot if the final song is good, though I guess that's one of the (many) things that makes me a shit music critic. However, I do love this lyric from that song:

If you can't see
the forest for the trees
just burn it all down
and bring the ashes to me

It's a nice conclusion to the whole 'overload' theme running through the album. And the constant mention of ashes, though I don't entirely get that yet.

It's pretty ridiculous that they've gone from BNM to 5,6, and anyone saying that Peter Pan and Chemistry are awful fake reggae will have to explain why on earth Flashpoint Light is supposed to be better. I'd perhaps even say the former are better because they're more obviously dub-based, which helps since the rhythm section can't and never could play Caribbean rhythms convincingly. However, Arcade Fire have sorta been overrated for a while, so while I think this is a pretty hilarious overcorrection, it's not as if any negative description I've read has been particularly wrong.

This quote from the Pitchfork review is OTM and sums up my frustrations with Trent Reznor's music for the last 15 years as well:

Butler’s commitment to the detached frontman where singing occurs barely or not at all robs songs of their emotional largesse, that basic thing we licensed to Arcade Fire and upon which their entire identity relies.

you guys are not making me want to listen to this album. never did warm up to Reflektor and The Suburbs is massively underrated especially if you trim off like three songs.

Well I mean it's worth listening to once. It's not like it spews razor blades coming out of a speaker. But if you're not up for the feeling of disappointment, maybe pass.

After listening to the album a couple times, I feel the 5.6 is appropriate... maybe it could have been a 6, but this album is worse than "meh". Some songs are downright unenjoyable lyrically and piss me off. Others are boring musically. I felt Reflektor was a huge "meh" and not nearly worthy of that ridiculous 9.2, but still better than this.

Did Reflektor seriously get 9.2? That's ridiculous. And I love Reflektor, but.

damn, 5.6... harsh

Josh otm itt

Man the songs they haven't released yet from this are terribad. I get the rating.

Banksy Disco is one of the best things i've ever heard.

There was a moment during their show at Roskilde on july 1st where Win jumped down towards the crowd during Here Comes the Nighttime, and stood at the gate to the stage and sang 'they won't let you in' and he seemed so sneering, so condescending, so full of himself that he was on this side of the gate, and we were on the other side. It took me out of the whole experience, and I never really got back into it for the rest of the show.

― Frederik B, Friday, July 28, 2017 1:25 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Perhaps satire? *strokes chin*

Problem is Will doesn't have the charisma to pull satire, he makes me cringe more than bono if that's possible.

Bono at least appears to be enjoying himself

it's got to be a tiring job

How much are you willing to bet that Arcade Fire release a different, good album today to admonish all those suckers who took EN seriously

— Laura Snapes (@laurasnapes) July 28, 2017

that would have been the only possible trick to make the anti-marketing marketing gimmick worth it, though IIRC Old Man Gloom and Akron/Family beat them to it

It's not a bad album really if you don't pay much attention to lyrics, there's at least 4 decent songs in there.

"at least 4 decent songs in there" a pretty weak endorsement.

Unless you're talking about, like, a single 30 minute song.

It's a short album

I'm not even a huge U2 fan but these chumps aren't even in the same league as U2, "I Will Follow" alone is worth more than every note of Arcade Fire and that's if U2 quit after their first big single

U2 > AF

Don't think it requires a poll but curious on seeing the arguments. Also why are we all comparing these two bands? Is it having a self-righteous prick as a frontman? Because musically speaking they seem to be more inspired by Springsteen.

U2 is aight but they would be much better if a little person ran out and punched Bono in the dick at some unspecified point during each of their gigs

arcade fire is more Eddie & the Cruisers

Ouch

You're not totally wrong:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYDAF6NbgKc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEZockGkEyY

It's not a bad album really if you don't pay much attention to lyrics, there's at least 4 decent songs in there.

I judge an Arcade Fire album by how good the Regine cuts are, so Reflektor was already a bit of a disappointment. No leads from her, but 'Joan of Arc' was fun.

...so here we are, and omg I find 'Electric Blue' really grating???

no one was lying about how bad "Chemistry" is, wow

I sorta think "Sprawl II" ruined this band by making them think they should try for that sort of thing as the rule rather than the exception

Listened to this a couple of times now and really haven't liked it, for much the same reasons as other people are saying, I think. Poor lyrics, a lot of filler and some actually bad/embarrassing songs, a nasty smug, arrogant vibe prevailing.

this really reminds me of that terrible, disappointing Aeroplane album from a few years back.

I've been cold on a lot of AF stuff in an 'I'm not feeling this, but I get why people like it' kind of way. This is almost like they're actively trying to be crap.

Yeah, the filler is obviously filler-like, instead of just less good versions of the singles. But I'm still making my mind up, and at this point I kinda love Peter Pan and Chemistry. It really helps the rhythm group to go full dub, they never figured out how to play this stuff live.

this album is like watching a software tutorial on YouTube presented by some stoned guy who spends the first 5 minutes cracking bad jokes and humming to himself.

Arcade Fire are selling $110 fidget spinners
Novelty toy contains a copy of the band's latest album, Everything Now
https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/07/arcade-fire-are-selling-110-fidget-spinners/

Reflektor was pretty crap too though.

oooof

http://thequietus.com/articles/22936-arcade-fire-s-everything-now-reviewed-track-by-track

there are a few U2 comparisons upthread and my other thought on that is i think Arcade Fire these days seem to be making a lot of empty gestures that don't really hit very hard. i think the context for Achtung Baby and Zooropa was a lot more compelling as well, the whole European sensibility that permeated those two albums (plus Passengers) was genuinely fascinating and often very haunting. the songs were very personal for the most part but the sense of place and time was palpable.

I agree with that. They are also, as I've noted many times, not the least "ironic." They are indeed personal and often quite affecting in their emotionally honesty, imo.

quietus piece was good. much better thought-out than the rather cruel takedown of Animal Collective they did last year.

There’s an overton window of pop culture and we need to give it a good shove away from this pap. Or, to put it another way: we don't have to put up with this shit. It's really not good enough. You deserve better, we all do.

I'm very glad someone said it

But I'm not sure some of you really do deserve better?