Skvot-Pop: Arcade fire i ostali

Dec 28, 2010

Arcade fire i ostali

1.Arcade Fire-The Suburbs
Montreal’s Arcade Fire successfully avoided the sophomore slump with 2007’s apocalyptic Neon Bible. Heavier and more uncertain than their near perfect, darkly optimistic 2004 debut, the album aimed for the nosebleed section and left a red mess. Having already fled the cold comforts of suburbia on Funeral and suffered beneath the weight of the world on Neon Bible, it seems fitting that a band once so consumed with spiritual and social middle-class fury, should find peace “under the overpass in the parking lot.” If nostalgia is just pain recalled, repaired, and resold, then The Suburbs is its sales manual. Inspired by brothers Win and William Butler’s suburban Houston, TX upbringing, the 16-track record plays out like a long lost summer weekend, with the jaunty but melancholy

2.Frog Eyes-Paul's Tomb:A Triumph
British Columbia’s Frog Eyes have amassed a substantive body of work since their 2002 debut, and their fifth full-length offering, Paul's Tomb: A Triumph, stands hoof to horn with the best of their efforts. The inimitable Carey Mercer is still a force to be reckoned with, and his frenetic delivery and seizure-inducing lyrics are in full effect, but there is an elegance in the chaos this time around (can bile mature?) that suggests a mild sea change for the bloody pulpit, indie rock preacher/secondary school English teacher. Nowhere is that more evident than on the epic opening cut, “Flower in a Glove,” a slow-building nine-minute love rant that toasts “A saint, a flower in a glove, a night made for the raising of your glass.” It’s hardly the soundtrack to flames licking at your feet, or the audio equivalent of naked, writhing succubi plucking out your eyeballs in a Hieronymus Bosch painting (though there is much of that to be found in Paul’s mostly miserable tomb).

3.The National-High Violet
The National have worn a lot of hats since their 2001 debut, but they’ve never been able to shake the rural, book-smart, quiet violence of the Midwest. The Brooklyn-groomed, Ohio-bred indie rock quintet’s fifth full-length album navigates that lonely dirt road where swagger meets desperation like a seasoned tour guide, and while it may take a few songs to get going, there are treasures to be found for patient passengers. The National's profile rose considerably after 2007’s critically acclaimed The Boxer, and they have used that capital to craft a flawed gem of a record that highlights their strengths and weaknesses with copious amounts of red ink. High Violet oozes atmosphere, but moves at a snail’s pace. The Cousteau-esque “Terrible Love” hardly bursts out of the gate, and the subsequent “Sorrow” and “Anyone’s Ghost”