This song is better than anything they've done after 'Funeral'. They completely lost me with after that album, but this is good.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, 2 June 2017 00:57 (six years ago) link
I'm really confused by ppl saying this is the best thing they've done in a decade bcz to my ears this sounds like a song they have already made like 6 times
― he not like the banana (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, 2 June 2017 01:03 (six years ago) link
also guys do you think this will be the 2nd to last track of the record?
― he not like the banana (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, 2 June 2017 01:06 (six years ago) link
I expected to hate this. I don't. But that's about the extent of it.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Friday, 2 June 2017 01:11 (six years ago) link
Have they made this song already?
I just think everything after Funeral was way too self-indulgent, aspiring to reach U2 levels of arena rock, which really, completely put me off. If this new one is a sign of things to come I might get on board again. It is an incredible earworm too tbh.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, 2 June 2017 01:14 (six years ago) link
Neon Bible is my favorite album of theirs. I don't know if anything after that one was more or less pompous, but I just didn't care anymore.
Weird that you'd find this one to be them somehow pulling back on aspiration, though...there's a huge choir part.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Friday, 2 June 2017 01:18 (six years ago) link
I enjoy the ABBA-ness.
What I'm not sure about is the fact that it also reminds me of this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGMabBGydC0
― MarkoP, Friday, 2 June 2017 01:21 (six years ago) link
It is weird! I think to me it sounds a lot like them grooving out and not take themselves way too seriously? (I mean, they did with Funeral, but that was their debut album, and I took that very serious as well). Not figured it out yet as per the new one. They'd lost me completely after Funeral, and while this is thoroughly different, it sounds good to me idk.
xp
― Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, 2 June 2017 01:23 (six years ago) link
It's alright for what it is. I don't like it nearly as much as "Black Mirror" or "Reflektor" (the track). I've never liked an LP of theirs from beginning to end, though.
― pomenitul, Friday, 2 June 2017 01:33 (six years ago) link
Funeral was so good but it's strange to me that nearly everything since has been a straight up pastiche of something. didn't expect it would be ABBA this time but it at least has a nice lightness to it
― ufo, Friday, 2 June 2017 01:39 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_sKqFkReZk
― Van Horn Street, Friday, 2 June 2017 03:57 (six years ago) link
Le Bateau Ivre, you should really give Reflektor a chance, if you haven't already. It sounds quite a lot like a bunch of stuff from that record. I love the Hancock-sample :)
― Frederik B, Friday, 2 June 2017 12:47 (six years ago) link
My phone's been blowing up for 24 hours because I spent a decade in a band called Everything, Now!
http://everythingnowmusic.bandcamp.com
(also, that single is pretty vanilla)
― dronestreet, Friday, 2 June 2017 17:08 (six years ago) link
https://scontent.fybz1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18835646_10158920585745151_5843268488750753195_n.jpg
― Rad Macca (Craig D.), Friday, 2 June 2017 22:14 (six years ago) link
https://scontent.fybz1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18835646_10158920585745151_5843268488750753195_n.jpg?oh=eb648f9ed1dfd54b9931850834b7a441&oe=59E07BB2
― Rad Macca (Craig D.), Friday, 2 June 2017 22:16 (six years ago) link
Freely translated back: 'hmm… a trifle.'
― pomenitul, Friday, 2 June 2017 22:23 (six years ago) link
@Fred, it's not something high on my list but will give it 'nother go.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 3 June 2017 10:44 (six years ago) link
I love Funeral, Neon Bible half of it and then haven't felt like listening to them again.
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Saturday, 3 June 2017 16:24 (six years ago) link
The Suburbs was so boring that I almost gave up on them, but Reflektor has some quite good stuff. I mean, it's overlong, and Everything Now kinda trumps a lot of attempts at similar dancey stuff on it, but it's worth giving a shot.
I really, really, really like this new on :) So joyful. Looking forward to shouting along when they play Roskilde this summer.
― Frederik B, Saturday, 3 June 2017 16:36 (six years ago) link
Suburbs is their best album by far (though Funeral made the bigger impression on me at the time)
New single sounds just like their last album
― niels, Monday, 5 June 2017 14:03 (six years ago) link
Will also rep for Suburbs as (maybe) their best album.
Kinda last me with Reflektor. Will check new one out based on the single, which I liked.
― circa1916, Monday, 5 June 2017 14:12 (six years ago) link
lost not last*
― yesca, Monday, 5 June 2017 14:52 (six years ago) link
Funeral and Neon Bible only. Neon Bible is better.
― flappy bird, Monday, 5 June 2017 14:54 (six years ago) link
Funeral >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the rest of it is O.K. and wouldn't have got noticed without Funeral. I'm going super stretch this comparison but whatever: The Grammy for 'The Suburbs' is kind of like the indie rock equivalent of Scorcese getting an Oscar for 'The Departed'.
― yesca, Monday, 5 June 2017 15:04 (six years ago) link
haha I can see that
― niels, Monday, 5 June 2017 15:06 (six years ago) link
anyway Neon Bible has good songs but they're lost in the terrible production - muddy, weak and cluttered
― niels, Monday, 5 June 2017 15:10 (six years ago) link
*sighs*
It's this fucking lot again.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Monday, 5 June 2017 17:24 (six years ago) link
I don't particularly like them, enjoy a few previous songs, but the new single is ridiculous yet not bad. It's catchy but there are some very silly aspects (the mentioned abba hook, the flute breakdown - borderline spinal tap territory, the everything now chanting part that sounds like simple minds' alive and kicking prechorus...).
― AlXTC from Paris, Monday, 5 June 2017 17:44 (six years ago) link
Funeral and Suburbs are both great, the second is probably the better "album." Neon Bible has its moments but I don't play it much. Reflektor, I'm honestly not sure I've listened to the whole thing.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 5 June 2017 17:48 (six years ago) link
I wrote upthread the sample was Hancock, but it's of course this tune:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m56H4E5bZLk
Love it.
― Frederik B, Monday, 5 June 2017 18:01 (six years ago) link
I first heard that song through ILX, and imagine Win Butler did the same. Though apparently it's on a pretty influential compilation.
― Frederik B, Monday, 5 June 2017 18:03 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzwicesJQ7E
They've always incorporated New Order into their music but the beginning foundation of this track is about as obvious a nod as it gets.
― yesca, Sunday, 18 June 2017 05:07 (six years ago) link
the "first record" reference is clever but I can't help think the new Killers single trumps them for cheese appeal
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Sunday, 18 June 2017 05:10 (six years ago) link
decent song but subtlety was never a strong point with these guys huh
― niels, Sunday, 18 June 2017 07:59 (six years ago) link
I like the Francis Bebey sample
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Monday, 19 June 2017 15:44 (six years ago) link
Funeral is their best album because it doesn't sound like a DFA b-sides compilation heard through a thin wall, and neither was it recorded in a big echoey church
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Tuesday, 20 June 2017 08:20 (six years ago) link
haha
― niels, Tuesday, 20 June 2017 08:28 (six years ago) link
rly loving the new track
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-w1GeH8KPU
― he not like the banana (Stevie D(eux)), Saturday, 24 June 2017 23:09 (six years ago) link
Lmao nailed it
― Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 24 June 2017 23:12 (six years ago) link
Just listened and am having trouble not hearing Creature Comfort as a bit of InBetween Days over Love Missile F1-11, but it's pretty damned flashy. I'm a little dazzled right now.
― Manitobiloba (Kim), Tuesday, 27 June 2017 23:22 (six years ago) link
Just got a pop-up ad for a combination fidget spinner/USB drive combo promoting the new album. I assume it is part of their high-concept gag marketing push?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 30 June 2017 13:56 (six years ago) link
Incidentally, there seems to be broader industry stuff afoot. AF sign to Columbia, War On Drugs sign to Atlantic ... why do these bands need to jump indie ship now, when it would seem that the majors (as such) have less to offer than ever?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 30 June 2017 14:06 (six years ago) link
AF has less to offer than ever, too, so it might be a good fit? Idk.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, 30 June 2017 17:50 (six years ago) link
― yesca, Saturday, 1 July 2017 15:28 (six years ago) link
Arcade Fire can already sell out arenas, win Grammys, etc. They've sold millions of records at this point, certainly more than many major labels, and all on an indie that I assume gives them very favorable royalties. I wonder what more they really want and, again, what a major can give them that Merge can't? If anything, the last AF album was affiliated with a (different) major, Capitol/Universal, and fwiw was the group's lowest selling album in the US (though not by a huge margin).
Anyway, maybe answering my question, here's some 2013 piece about how hard it's been for indie-isa bands to break the glass singles ceiling:
http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/128-reflektor-debuts-at-1but-why-havent-arcade-fire-conquered-the-singles-chart/
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 1 July 2017 16:03 (six years ago) link
Arcade Fire can already sell out arenas, win Grammys, etc. They've sold millions of records at this point, certainly more than many major labels, and all on an indie that I assume gives them very favorable royalties. I wonder what more they really want and, again, what a major can give them that Merge can't?
I'm pretty sure Merge know jack fucking shit about how to properly promote anything.
If you just want to make Art, that's probably okay. If you want to become a global brand, it's not.
#realtalk
― yesca, Saturday, 1 July 2017 17:39 (six years ago) link
By what metric can the band be judged even more successful beyond even bigger record sales, which no one save a handful of acts are garnering? Short of hiring Max Martin or some other writer/producer ringer, not sure there's anything a major can offer. I'd love to hear your (or anyone's) alternative perspective.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 1 July 2017 17:48 (six years ago) link
I never liked this band--far too overwrought and anthemic, kind of an indie-but-stadium U2 vibe. But a friend played me the song with the Francis Bebey sample/interpolation and it sounds a lot more fun than what little I remember of them previously. I mean, if indie rock has to exist, at least it can be more of a Talking Heads/Knight Rider theme song/Daft Punk/Stereolab/LCD Soundsystem-inspired thing(aka third hand dance/funk/pop) than a Beat Happening/God Speed You Black Emperor hybrid. With all of the terrible stuff involving Barney the Purple Dinosaur level twee singalongs and "Hey! Ho!" and clapping Urban Outfitters bullshit I have to hear on the Pandora at work, I'll take this over that.
This is why I don't want to hear indie rock, though--it just brings out my crotchety old man qualities.
― Soundslike, Saturday, 1 July 2017 22:18 (six years ago) link
I never liked this band--far too overwrought and anthemic, kind of an indie-but-stadium U2 vibe.
One interesting narrative I've seen crop up with the last two records is this idea that somehow they are just now taking on dance music - I don't think people with these opinions have been listening closely enough. If you go back and listen to "Neighborhood #1" and "Crown of Love", both of them explode at their climaxes with straight up disco rhythms, and "Neighborhood #4" is straight up indie extended mix electronic driving beat music.
Since that record I've had a bit of love hate with the band. On 'Funeral' I felt like they really balanced that anthemic and earnest quality with some decent poetry and inspired songwriting. Fast forward to 'Reflektor' and you have sloppy groove numbers with some really obnoxious art nonsense. They just don't have the taste to cash the checks they write with some of these lyrics and creative statements, and while I like "Everything Now" it is really teetering on the brink of goofy.
― yesca, Sunday, 2 July 2017 02:37 (six years ago) link
No Cars Go was not a B side, it was on their first EP and by far the best thing on there
― flappy bird, Friday, 27 October 2017 14:16 (six years ago) link
still
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Friday, 27 October 2017 14:55 (six years ago) link
Can I be mad that this record sucks AND effectively erased my old band (yes....Everything, Now!) from the Internet. Just tryna sell Basecamp mp3s and leftover vinyl, Win, sheesh.
...rude.
― dronestreet, Friday, 27 October 2017 15:47 (six years ago) link
a not quite small enough number of extremely unimaginative ilxors will still get this into the eoy 77, you just watch
― imago, Friday, 27 October 2017 16:04 (six years ago) link
still really can't get past his singing voice. i like bad voices sometimes but his isn't interesting.
― nomar, Friday, 27 October 2017 16:12 (six years ago) link
I really want to get this into 77, both because I still like it a fair amount, and because it would piss people off, but I'm fairly certain it won't work.
― Frederik B, Friday, 27 October 2017 16:51 (six years ago) link
I think this album is a good candidate for a fake top 10 placement
― silverfish, Friday, 27 October 2017 17:11 (six years ago) link
@ dog latin - there are plenty of bands that re-recorded strong songs from earlier/poorly recorded albums and EP's for later records. "Welcome to Paradise," pretty much everything on the pre-TOTBL Interpol EP's, Ariel Pink's 'studio' records...
― flappy bird, Friday, 27 October 2017 17:30 (six years ago) link
no way in hell is this going 77
― Simon H., Friday, 27 October 2017 17:32 (six years ago) link
'No Cars Go' is the very best this band could ever do.
― Gholdfish Killah (Turrican), Friday, 27 October 2017 17:40 (six years ago) link
Yeah it's one of their marquee songs. Not sure but I'd bet it's been on their the setlist every night for over a decade, along with Rebellion (Lies) and Wake Up.
― flappy bird, Friday, 27 October 2017 17:41 (six years ago) link
So weird. Even when the band was touring Funeral people would go crazy for No Cars Go, but I think it's a big nothing.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 27 October 2017 17:47 (six years ago) link
The Suburbs we always be the most underrated thing they ever did!
― Bee OK, Saturday, 28 October 2017 03:51 (six years ago) link
we = will
― Bee OK, Saturday, 28 October 2017 03:55 (six years ago) link
One I feel most compelled to return to. It’s great.
― circa1916, Saturday, 28 October 2017 04:04 (six years ago) link
this band has gotten worse with every album since the (really good) debut. a stunning achievement!
― yesca, Saturday, 28 October 2017 04:49 (six years ago) link
Hahaha yes I can agree to that
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 28 October 2017 06:51 (six years ago) link
I still believe that the promise indie showed in the early to mid 00’s pointed out to something fucking amazing, but it got lost.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 28 October 2017 06:53 (six years ago) link
and Funeral was one of the best examples
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 28 October 2017 06:54 (six years ago) link
Oh well
I still believe that the promise indie showed in the early to mid 00’s pointed out to something fucking amazing, but it got lost.― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, October 28, 2017 7:53 AM (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, October 28, 2017 7:53 AM (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
This. I'm on a real 2005 nostalgia tip right now and it feels like (especially in the US) there was this point around 2004 where 'indie' music was having this incredible renaissance where rock and noise and folk music were converging and doing some really inspiring stuff. Flash forward to about 2009 and it had homogenised and dissipated into this terrible self-congratulatory woodcutting shit.
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Wednesday, 1 November 2017 12:02 (six years ago) link
not all indie
― imago, Wednesday, 1 November 2017 12:03 (six years ago) link
what actually happened was that there was a tremendous explosion in the number of bands,meaning you had to search harder to hear the good stuff as the lowest common denominator shit floated to the top
saying that indie itself stagnated is dumb. and the arcade fire were always crap
― imago, Wednesday, 1 November 2017 12:05 (six years ago) link
(that's harsh obv but imo if you ever saw them as the flagbearers of indie then you were taking your eye very far off the ball)
― imago, Wednesday, 1 November 2017 12:07 (six years ago) link
no sure that's fine, of course there was good stuff if you looked, like in every genre at every time. But like, 2004-2005 you had (off the top of my head) Arcade Fire (Funeral), Animal Collective (Sung Tongs), Fiery Furnaces (Blueberry Boat), Wolf Parade (Apologies to the Queen Mary), Devendra Banhardt (Rejoicing In The Hands) all kind of bursting into the alt limelight at roughly the same time and making music that sounded relatively credible and original-sounding; compare a few years later and most of these bands had stagnated into self-parody and begat a commodified scene that encompassed stuff like Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver. The noise scene that felt very vital and challenging (Lightning Bolt, Black Dice, Wolf Eyes etc) hit a dead-end in many respects too. That whole Amerindie loft-scene thing burnt brightly for just a few years and it's easy to dismiss that in retrospect.
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Wednesday, 1 November 2017 12:48 (six years ago) link
It'd be interesting to compare the numbers of bands coming through at those times - I think it's hard to get a handle this on given the shifts in what constituted indie music in that timeframe so I'm wary of making claims about the genre as a whole but there did seem to be a move towards blandness on the folk side of things (would definitely consider Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver key artists in that respect).
― Gavin, Leeds, Wednesday, 1 November 2017 13:18 (six years ago) link
^ that all feels very real to me, but maybe because I was in college and Pitchfork was at its peak taste-making powers and it’s hard to see objectively around those two major forces
― circa1916, Wednesday, 1 November 2017 13:22 (six years ago) link
*xp to DL
Saw the band Monday night and they were great, as usual. The high-concept BS of the marketing campaign was largely abandoned (short some occasional fake ads or goofy pre-recorded used car salesmen schtick to buy merch), and the in-the-round setup worked pretty well. The band's theatricality remains really effective, and their passion (affected or not) is pretty infectious. Still don't like the new songs, but they definitely sound better when there are less of them to listen to. I do wish the band were smarter, which would make its attempts to act smart more effective (a la Peter Gabriel or someone equally presentation-aware), but they sure know how to put on a cathartic show.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 1 November 2017 13:29 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvqNWYggnVA
this is really not good lol
― ufo, Thursday, 5 November 2020 07:31 (three years ago) link
hoo boy
― Sam Weller, Thursday, 5 November 2020 09:20 (three years ago) link
....
― octobeard, Thursday, 5 November 2020 09:22 (three years ago) link
good god this is lame
― devvvine, Thursday, 5 November 2020 10:18 (three years ago) link
"inspired by the current climate of the country, with a hopeful message to the youths"
poor youths. this is teh cringe.
― A Scampo Darkly (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 5 November 2020 10:36 (three years ago) link
embed still is sufficient lol
― imago, Thursday, 5 November 2020 10:46 (three years ago) link
have never seen a band with a more mid life crisis vibe
― devvvine, Thursday, 5 November 2020 10:57 (three years ago) link
should have retired after The Suburbs
― octobeard, Friday, 6 November 2020 05:52 (three years ago) link
this isnt that bad, it sounds like slower andrew wk
― cointelamateur (m bison), Friday, 6 November 2020 05:59 (three years ago) link
also reminds me of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GhPUAVgHZc
― cointelamateur (m bison), Friday, 6 November 2020 06:02 (three years ago) link
this isnt that bad
I mean yeah on the surface it's a decent song musically speaking, but devvvine really nails it with the "midlife crisis rock" label. Win Butler has sounded desperately try hard since Reflektor, and Everything Now was straight cringe and utterly, lyrically tone deaf. I'll admit this is a marginal improvement though but I wish they'd focus inward again.
― octobeard, Friday, 6 November 2020 07:36 (three years ago) link
priors: i dont have any strong emotional attachment to their earlier work, so i have no expectations
― cointelamateur (m bison), Friday, 6 November 2020 13:01 (three years ago) link
i'm just not really sure who this is speaking from the perspective of or who it's speaking to
― unashamed and trash (Unctious), Friday, 6 November 2020 16:21 (three years ago) link
i know they said it's a message for the youths but it is not speaking their language and it is not clear what the message is
― unashamed and trash (Unctious), Friday, 6 November 2020 16:22 (three years ago) link
nope, nevermind, I get what you meant about midlife crisis rock, that's it otm
― unashamed and trash (Unctious), Friday, 6 November 2020 16:24 (three years ago) link