Ever since their surprising win for album of the year at the Grammys in 2011, Arcade Fire has risen in public acclaim to something like ’90s Radiohead: too popular to be indie, too indie to be commercial. The increased scrutiny comes with backlashes, and backlashes of backlashes, and the upcoming “Reflektor,” their follow-up to breakout album “The Suburbs,” is now the focal point of Arcade Fire arguments. Certainly the two singles, dance-heavy and lyrically ambitious, are likely to draw contention.
In this week’s Love|Hate, columnists Sebastian Torrelio and Tony Huang anticipate the upcoming album. Torrelio enjoys the album compositions the band has put out, while Huang relates his troubled relationship with the group.
BY SEBASTIAN TORRELIO
A&E; senior staff
storrelio@media.ucla.edu
Listening to “Funeral” still makes me emotional. As one of, if not the best, album of the 21st century so far, “Funeral” is a masterful piece to the extent that many of the albums from the past couple decades have not been able to reach. Baroque as it may be, “Funeral” picks up from music styles ranging from traditional to classical to hard rock, piecing them together into 10 songs that, put together in their proper listening order, tell a story of sorts.
“Funeral,” like its sibling “The Suburbs,” puts the heart and experience of life into musical form, weaving an orchestrated tale that can relate to listeners of any background. What “The Suburbs” did three years later, however, was earn popular recognition. The post-Grammy Awards question of, “Who is Arcade Fire?” made me angry, yes, but also hopeful that a band that defined the indie music scene for most of the decade finally would step into the grandiose limelight, towing the genre with them.
The single “Reflektor” seems like an appropriately big step for the band to follow with, but for a different purpose. Whereas Arcade Fire’s music seems rooted in the past, bringing an honest reality into the way albums are enjoyed, “Reflektor” takes a turn to the pop scene. Assuming the appearance of several similar songs on their upcoming album, I would not be surprised to see Arcade Fire enter the charts multiple times in the next couple weeks.
Whether or not it will actually do so is up to those who determine the Top 40, some of whom have recently thrown a YouTube parody song about foxes into the Billboard Top 10. But that isn’t particularly what fans are looking for, and especially not what I’m looking for.
My favorite Arcade Fire song, “Rebellion (Lies)” off of “Funeral,” carries the momentum of a rock anthem alongside a theme of empowerment that classic epics fail to match. Arcade Fire didn’t intend for “Funeral” to yield in money and fame, but to be remembered for songs that invoke a feeling of tranquility and understanding that the world really needed. “Neon Bible” has these songs, “The Suburbs” has these songs and ideally, “Reflektor” will be filled with them.
BY TONY HUANG
A&E; contributor
thuang@media.ucla.edu
All the indie kids still love “Funeral,” even if they’d like to disown the Grammy Award-winning Arcade Fire. In my personal hierarchy, “Funeral” does reign supreme, but even their best album doesn’t do it for me consistently. And, though this might just be a testament to their consistency, many of my problems with them appear right out of the gate: the portentous lyrics, the plodding rhythms, the delicate bombast, a sort of seriousness ill-fitted on a pop group.
Admittedly, I get a kick out of a few songs on each of their albums – the title track of “The Suburbs” was even one of my favorite songs from that year. Unfortunately, I’m sure I don’t find Arcade Fire as profound as I’m supposed to – to me they’re a little bit like Bruce Springsteen, whom I’m not totally in love with: earnest, propulsive and tiresome.
It does look like the new album is going in a new direction – the single, “Reflektor,” finally gives in to the dance inclinations that have haunted, but never quite dominated the band’s albums. It reminds me a little of New Order: ravers at heart trying to impart some ill-guided revelations. Only Arcade Fire isn’t as inventive as New Order, nor as convincing. The grotesque hats they’ve been wearing to promote the album are perfectly emblematic of their annoying anti-humor: fun, but not too fun.
I guess that it boils down to Arcade Fire’s music insisting on its own importance, and me not really feeling it. Just look at the band’s schoolmarmish diagnosis of texting in “Reflektor:” “We fell in love when I was nineteen/ And I was staring at a screen … I thought I found the connector (It’s just a Reflektor).” Great, Arcade Fire, you’ve grasped the zeitgeist. Now if only you could relate it to society without the portent and with a bit more verve – stop the thud and bring on the bite.
I completely agree with you. The Suburbs (the song, not the album) is a stunner, but the vast majority of their work is much too ponderous. The Arcade Fire enigma begs you to listen to them as if they’re hiding something extremely profound and interesting, but when you get beneath the surface you realize that the most interesting thing about this band is the mask. what’s behind it is extremely boring, longwinded, and over-serious when compared to their self-marketing.
Maybe you just don’t understand the music…that’s my theory. Maybe you should have a good listen without the pretentious ideas already filling your head, then maybe you’ll see what it’s SUPPOSED to mean. By the way, Relflektor as an album is rough on first listen but it’s solid. I love how one of you judged the ENTIRE album and called AF a new o ripoff just by ONE song off thr album. I love it. I don’t know why I expected more from you guys. Lol.