For a limited time, you can download the 16-track Suburbs from Amazon for only $3.99
For a lot of indie rock fans, today marks the official release of one of the most anticipated albums of the year. That would be Arcade Fire‘s first album in three years, and the Montreal‘s band third studio LP since forming in 2002, The Suburbs.
A few advance singles from the LP have been making the rounds on the web for the past three months, but the rest of the tracks on the The Suburbs were kept under tight wraps, except for some live versions of other songs on the album recorded at recent Arcade Fire shows.
As with their previous records, the band returns again – as they had with Neon Bible and their debut, The Funeral – to the themes of suburban sprawl, the utter dystopia of modern life, a longing for another time and place, and constant critiques of the spread of strip malls, with the omni present disenchantment imposed by commercial monopolization that has over taken the American, and apparently, Canadian, landscape, forever dismantling the infrastructure of thousands of communities that once took pride in their autonomy and unique character, and a longing for a dream that slips further away with the passing of each decade. The suburbs were supposed to be a good thing.
Arcade Fire, probably more than any other rock band we know of, appears to be hell bent on documenting the history of the rise and fall of suburban life. In fact, every song on The Suburbs contains the word suburbs in some form, making the LP much like a modern day “soap opera”, or concept, album, a comparison the band has reportedly dismissed.
“The Suburbs”– Arcade Fire from The Suburbs
So far, reviews of the album have been largely positive. However, The New York Daily News gave it 2.5 of 5 stars; writer Jim Farber summing it up as a “new-wave symphony gets lost in musical sprawl.” Pitchfork went in the other direction, giving The Suburbs a 8.6 out of 10, observing: “The bulk of The Suburbs focuses on this quiet desperation borne of compounding the pain of wasting your time as an adult by romanticizing the wasted time of your youth. As bleak as the lyrics are, though, they’re buoyed by the band’s leanest, loosest songwriting yet.”
“Rococo” – Arcade Fire from The Suburbs
Watch Arcade Fire live on YouTube Thursday night, August 5, from Madison Square Garden – one of two sold out shows.
In using MetaCritic as a guiding light for the overall opinion of The Suburbs, it scores an impressive 95 out of 100, making it likely to be a huge success. Many critics are calling it the band’s best album – in totality – and that’s saying a lot.
“Sprawl II” – Arcade Fire from The Suburbs
“Half Light I” – Arcade Fire from The Suburbs
While The Suburbs is Arcade Fire’s most rocking, and in other respects, most new wave work to date, with less emphasis on orchestra pop that propelled the band to international fame, it is also one of those albums that you wonder what how you will feel about in the years to come.
Is it possible to love this album even more a year from now, after the hype machine finally winds down? Absolutely. But, at this moment, there is no question that the three year time-span without fresh material from the band has been well worth the wait. The Suburbs is likely to be the album of the summer, if not the year.
Wavves – King of the Beach
It wasn’t long ago that some bloggers, musicians and fans were writing off one of the fastest rising one man bands of the past few years. But, after a year of rebuilding and rehabilitating – following a disturbing string of of public incidents involving drugs and alcohol, bar fights with other rock musicians, scuffles on stage with fellow band members, and a storm of bad publicity – San Diego musician Nathan Williams, the founding member of Wavves, has recruited a new band that includes former members of Jay Reatard’s band, and seems to be getting his shi*t together.
“Post Acid” – Wavves from King of the Beach
Candy Claws – Hidden Lands
Candy Claws is a Colorado-based indie duo (Ryan Hover and Kay Bertholf) that is not just another band of young guys playing around on keyboards and Macbooks to create fuzzy, amniotic dream pop. The friends who met in church have now apparently turned their attention from religion to music and science.
The duo’s second LP, Hidden Lands, is a musical companion piece to Richard M. Ketchum‘s 1970 plant-life book, The Secret Life of the Forest. In fact, there is so much happening in the music that the band has had to expand to eight members for live shows.
“Sunbeam Show” – Candy Claws from Hidden Lands
Air Conditioning School – General Mountain Time
Minneapolis band Air Conditioning School is a solo project of Chris Heidman (Sukpatch), whose releases on Sub Pop, Grand Royal and Moshi Moshi have brought him much acclaim from critics and music lovers alike. Now, Heidnam has released his anticipated debut LP, General Mountain Time, and from the little bit we’ve heard so far, it’s sounding pretty sweet.
“Up On” – Air Conditioning School from General Mountain Time
More Releases We Like This Week:
“Hurrah” – Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band from Where The Messengers Meet
“Invincible Hero” – Versus from On the Ones and Threes
“Supertoys“ – Autolux from Transit Transit
“Gone Without Feeling” – The Black Ryder from Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride
“Stay Gray” – Bambara from Dog Ear Days
“Unveiled in Sequence” – The Poison Arrows from Newfound Resolutions
“# Zero With a Bullet” – David Dondero from # Zero with a Bullet
