Arcade Fire’s ‘Funeral’ is one year old today, does it still hold up?

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For me it's still the best album of last year and hasn't faded at all. I was struggling toward the end of last year to find my favorite album. Albums always hit me over the head and announce that it's my favorite for that year. In 2004 it was a different story as nothing really grabbed me and it was December already. I knew about the hype but didn't get around to listening to it until much later in that year. I remember sitting at my computer, stopping what I was doing and just listen to it. When it came around to the song "Wake Up" it gave me chills on the back of my neck. Of course I kept listening to it and listening to it but never play albums back to back. The one thing that struck me in the early going was that this album really makes the most sense when you hear it from start to finish.

Interestingly enough I starting listening to my second favorite album, of last year, the Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat right after I fully absorbed the Arcade Fire. That album has held up extremely well as well.

― BeeOK (boo radley), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 12:43 (twenty years ago)

There may have been a thread on this lot already, BeeOK!

I like the two songs I've heard quite a lot, seems to me they might be a bit histrionic for a whole album though, maybe I should get it.

― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 12:51 (twenty years ago)

Suggestion: The Arcade Fire are to the 00s what the Violent Femmes were to the 80s, Q: Who are the 90s equivalent in terms of cult / niche appeal ?

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 12:56 (twenty years ago)

I'm still bewildered by how both Tom and The Lex seem to like The Arcade Fire. I have still only heard a couple of their songs though.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 12:56 (twenty years ago)

you like fiery funances AND arcade fire? shockah

― harshaw (jube), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 12:57 (twenty years ago)

I'm listening to 'Funeral' right now. I think it holds up very well.

Tom, the histronics (I know exactly what you mean, even if I rather like it) don't continue over the whole album.

― Anna (Anna), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 12:58 (twenty years ago)

There's a kind of 80s big music thing going on with them which I really like. And I like his enthusiastic yelping too I suppose.

― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 12:59 (twenty years ago)

Yeah I like the histrionics too Anna! I just thought a whole record might be too much. But that sounds more promising.

― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:00 (twenty years ago)

My God YES!!! It's just fantastic. Power out is such an amazing song. One of my favourite albums from the last few years.

― Kv_nol (Kv_nol), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:00 (twenty years ago)

A lot of answers got put in the way. My rapturous response was to do with the original question.

― Kv_nol (Kv_nol), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:01 (twenty years ago)

Fuck yeah it holds up. I'm disappointed that I still have no "hitmeoverthehead" Album of the Year 2005.

― Cheek0 (Cheek0), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:04 (twenty years ago)

I'm slightly surprised with myself I'm so savagely neutral about this album. But I am. It's very...there for me. I find I hear it less through a lens of Echo/Talking Heads and more the Godspeed/Constellation fuckers, which probably has a lot to do with it (then again Talking Heads are one of my least favorite bands ever, so there ya go!).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:20 (twenty years ago)

Not heard it yet. It's on my longlist.

― Jeff W (zebedee), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:25 (twenty years ago)

They still sound like a crappy version of the Rock*A*Teens.

― adam (adam), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:37 (twenty years ago)

They were blooming marvellous on Top Of The Pops on Sunday, which gives me slightly ill-founded hope that they're shaping up to give 'Crown Of Love' a run at the Xmas #1. Which would be quite top, really.

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:50 (twenty years ago)

I would say that with the exception of Une Annee Sans Lumiere and Neighbourhood #4, both of which are the songs I find myself reaching the skip button for, it's held up very well. One year on, Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out) is still unbelievably awesome and I still dance to that disco breakdown at the end of 'Crown of Love'.

I am actually so glad I heard their music before ever knowing what they looked like since every one of them, Regine excepted, looks extremely punchable in that theatre major art-school student way.

― Roz (Roz), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:57 (twenty years ago)

still great.

― sleep (sleep), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 13:57 (twenty years ago)

William Bloody, at the Electric Picnic Festival (3rd September) he came out with a great comment along the lines of "you know the end of the world is coming when we're going to be on top of the pops tomorrow." Oh and they were brilliant at that show as well!

― Kv_nol (Kv_nol), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 14:04 (twenty years ago)

I'm disappointed that I still have no "hitmeoverthehead" Album of the Year 2005.

you could of course cheat - it's my hmoth album of 2005 cos it only came out in the uk in february...

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 14:09 (twenty years ago)

I have every reason to be very, very tired of the Arcade Fire, but I put on Funeral a couple of weeks ago, the first time in a while, and man it still made me so gladsadbig feeling. It's such a gutsy record, in its own stupid way, so unflinching in its emotion (and yet so fun!). The Top of the Pops clip got me excited as well, for no good reason except that it was exciting!

And while some people might find it a little too peculiar a take, their live version of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Maps" was really, really electric for me. I wasn't expecting them to do anything more than a competent cover but (while a lot of people seem to dislike it,) I find it fascinating how they've turned the song sort of inside-out, changing its footing, and making it something else.

Man, my favourite band, four years in a row. Who'd-a-thunk.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 14:17 (twenty years ago)

I was initially wrong about this album, thinking it was just Talking Heads fronted by Ian McCulloch. I now understand that they're actually doing Pulp anthems. Also, the lyrics are really very visual and evocative.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:38 (twenty years ago)

I think I honestly find this band hard to imagine anyone loving, even though many clearly do. I'm surprised at this rush to embrace something that to me suggests comfort rather than passion (and Spencer inadvertantly suggests why by presenting two comparisons that both act as 'there there, it's all right, there's always this' signifiers in The World What is 2005 -- as someone who's quite excited about Bloc Party, I should talk, but even so).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:48 (twenty years ago)

My description sounds like a critique, but it's not. I *REALLY* like Arcade Fire now, especially:

"Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"
"Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)"
" Rebellion (Lies)"

I can listen to those three tracks over and over.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:02 (twenty years ago)

Ned, I don't think I'll be able to argue this very coherently as I don't see why -anyone- would give a pish about the Bloc Party (except magazine eds who like the colour of Kele Okereke's face), but... to me the Arcade Fire are the opposite of "comfort" music - there's something really impelling about the sound. if the group wasn't so dorky and so vocal about their influences it would come across as arrogance (and some people do see them as arrogant: a recent issue of Plan B had two references to the AF as "pretentious", even though they're not [and much more U2 than Decemberists], probably because of that confidence-and-artiness).

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:12 (twenty years ago)

I also like Bloc Party!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:13 (twenty years ago)

I only recently found out the color of that guy's face - I thought it was Damon Albarn at first!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:14 (twenty years ago)

the opposite of "comfort" music

If this helps, 'comfort' not in the sense of soothing but in the sense of knowing what you're getting, a criticism I could easily apply to Bloc Party as well. The loudest metal ever can be comfort music. Hell, Merzbow can be comfort music.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:16 (twenty years ago)

"In the Backseat" is my favorite track off of Funeral. It *almost* makes the album for me.

― kickitcricket (kickitcricket), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:22 (twenty years ago)

This shit is the white crunk... for serious. I love it.

That's your boy...

Kanye

― Kanye West (Confounded), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:24 (twenty years ago)

Oh - well then in that case the "comfort" thing becomes an issue of age/personal context and isn't something you can really project onto the band. (ie, I don't hear "oh yes, the sweet comfort of Pulp/New Order/Talking Heads" because i didn't grow up [or grow older] listening to those bands)

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:34 (twenty years ago)

Ah, see, then we must punish you for your youth. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:35 (twenty years ago)

it's about time!

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:42 (twenty years ago)

This is a really good live band but the record is kind of overwrought and boooooring.

also OTM to whoever said the 'theatre school' vibe thing.

OH TEE EM.

― Googley Asearch (Toaster), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 17:57 (twenty years ago)

Still one of my fave albums of last year.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 18:19 (twenty years ago)

still one of my favourites of this year. like charlie says, it came out in the UK in 2005: hence it shall be featuring highly in the grimly fiendish end-of-year voting on ILM :)

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:00 (twenty years ago)

I still don't feel qualified to judge, since I have yet to listen to the album without falling asleep in the middle.

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:02 (twenty years ago)

Still the best of 2004.

― M. V. (M.V.), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)

They still sound like a crappy version of the Rock*A*Teens.

-- adam (hexenductio...), September 13th, 2005. (adam) (later) strangely sooo otm

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)

A year later, my Funeral CD is scratched all to hell for countlessly being forced to shake the disc out if the stiff cardboard packaging. Thank you so much, Merge.

Still the best album of 2004, though.

― a. begrand (a begrand), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:23 (twenty years ago)

I approve of the Arcade Fire's existence but like Ned don't quite understand the massive amounts of love for them. I really, really like the singles (that Power Out one, the new one which sounds like they nicked the bassline of Etienne de Crécy's 'Fast Track') and have been seen dancing to them, but I don't think I'd want to listen to the album all the way through again.

But then, this is about as enthusiastic as I get for indie, so there must be something there.

― The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:42 (twenty years ago)

Their appeal reminds me of Death Cab. Just MOR enough for EVERYONE to like them, but not much to write home about. But Im a hater so pay no mind.

― Stuh-du-du-du-du-du-du-denka (jingleberries), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 21:52 (twenty years ago)

Death Cab For Cutie are a fucking horrible band.

― The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 22:12 (twenty years ago)

I hope Viv Stanshall's ghost haunts DCFC each night and harasses them for naming such a shit band after one of his songs.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 22:15 (twenty years ago)

I don't hear any Talking Heads on this at all; if I did, I might actually like it.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 23:29 (twenty years ago)

all i know is that ''cold wind'' is fucking awesome and i can't stop listening to it.

― reo, Wednesday, 14 September 2005 00:17 (twenty years ago)

Although I ranked this as one of last year's best I dont' think I've heard it since February. I used to admire how the dense arrangements mitigated if not undercut the lead singer's weakness for operatic bathos; now his voice really fucking pisses me off. David Byrne without the irony which made him alternately endearing and irritating, if you will.

As for Bloc Party: there's really no comparison. I like the album a lot and will probably be listening to it in December, but it's a job well done, 'comfort food' (to toy with Sir Ned's usage) rather than something truly impressive.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 01:12 (twenty years ago)

YA'LLZ ARE FAGGOTS EXCEPT FOR NED RAGGETT

― IAN STENCIL WILLIAMS (ex machina), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 01:49 (twenty years ago)

Never held up, never understood the fuss. Listened to it again today (my ex-roommate put a copy of it in iTunes for me), still dislike it. Oh well.

― John Justen (johnjusten), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 04:03 (twenty years ago)

I saw Arcade Fire live in August. They played No Cars Go and Headlights Look Like Diamonds. Never heard them before. Both songs could have been on Funeral. If you're tired of Funeral you could always listen to the Arcade Fire EP. The songs mentioned above really stand out.

― Marius Plantinga, Wednesday, 14 September 2005 22:47 (twenty years ago)

So. Very. Boring.

― Eppy (Eppy), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 23:15 (twenty years ago)

Talking Heads - Funk + Emo/Melodrama - Humor + "HEY EVERYBODY LOOK AT HOW ARTSY AND SENSITIVE WE ARE" = turd.

I would have loved it three years ago, though.

― super are, Wednesday, 14 September 2005 23:37 (twenty years ago)

i don't really think a year is enough to "date" an album, unless it's utter bollocks they souldn't really have liked in the 1st place(wonder what people will make of MIA in 2007). funeral still holds up and, although it's really not my sort of thing usually i've quite enjoyed it. admittedly i've not listened to it a huge amount, but on the occasions i have, it's fitted the mood pretty well. tom's right about the 80s influence and that makes it a lot more likeable that it would have been without it. i'm not hearing a whole lot of talking heads, though. can't quite pin what i do hear and can't be bothered to try. for the record, i also have a fondness for death cab, too. they're not horrible at all. quite the opposite, in fact, but i can see how they'd get on your tits one oway or another. they annoy me if i'm not in the right frame of mind for them.

― stelf)xxxx, Thursday, 15 September 2005 09:27 (twenty years ago)

ok once again i'm giving it another chance right now and i dont think its working yeah its the histrionics the histrionics are a tuffy some give them a pass because of the back story but forced emotion still sounds icky dial it back about 25% and youd be getting somewhere i do like their clothes though all in all its alright its pretty original they dont sound like the talking heads really

― jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Thursday, 15 September 2005 13:07 (twenty years ago)

some give them a pass because of the back story

back story?! that "death in the family" crap was pure PR stuff and nothing to do with the band's own motivations. the emotionality of the singing certainly isn't in excess of U2 or Nirvana or The Killers or whatever, and it sure doesn't sound "forced" to me. it's about making a fucking racket about disenchantment and growing up and things like that. if you don't like win or regine's voices, well fair nuff, but yeah, the "histrionics" stuff i've heard people say to me is really weird - have you been listening to mainstream rock music in the past ten years?

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Thursday, 15 September 2005 13:59 (twenty years ago)

I didn't like Funeral the handful of times I made myself sit through it when I bought it late last year, and can't give it another go cuz I sold it back earlier this year, and nothing I've read about the band since makes me wanna try 'em again.

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 15 September 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)

have you been listening to mainstream rock music in the past ten years?

As little as possible!

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 15 September 2005 14:15 (twenty years ago)

As little as possible!

-- Tom (freakytrigge...), September 15th, 2005.

Therein lies the problem.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 15 September 2005 14:19 (twenty years ago)

Go on then.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 15 September 2005 14:22 (twenty years ago)

You missed out on Staind and 3 Colours Red, Tom. Your opinions are thus invalid.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 15 September 2005 14:25 (twenty years ago)

still a GREAT album as far as I'm concerned. my tastes run: eno, vu, gbv, j. fire*eater, walkmen etc. etc. and this band, though new to the list of faves, has a place near the top 4-evah. most of my friends feel the same way. so they definitely strike a big chord with some people, and I guess I'm probably just as surprised by all of those who don't find them special as they are with those of us who do.

― Arcade Ho, Thursday, 15 September 2005 14:31 (twenty years ago)

Oh come on - I'm not talking about rrrrock, but just the grunge (and britpop) led move into 'emotive' vox, contra the ironic blurts of the 80s. Everyone from Nirvana, The Pixies and U2 through Radiohead, (late period, I guess) Pulp, blah blah blah. There's no more "overdramatacism" in the AF than in any of those bands -- then again, you're free to prefer any of those bands, regardless.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Thursday, 15 September 2005 14:39 (twenty years ago)

i'm holding up fine- thanks for all the concern.

luv,
funeral

― funeral, Thursday, 15 September 2005 14:51 (twenty years ago)

No, Sean's right--honestly, I wish there were more histrionics! I like histrionics, and it would probably make me like them more.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 15 September 2005 14:53 (twenty years ago)

i have to admit that on record, the AF are a pretty humourless band, so i can understand people some of eppy and matt perpetua's ambivalence. "haiti" is an exception, though, (especially live)... comma comma comma.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Thursday, 15 September 2005 14:57 (twenty years ago)

Haiti is the only track that caught my attention

― Baaderonixx and the choco-pop babies (baaderonixx), Thursday, 15 September 2005 15:00 (twenty years ago)

"rebellion (lies)" is the track i've used to convert more than a couple of sceptics (alext to the white courtesy phone).

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Thursday, 15 September 2005 15:04 (twenty years ago)

I love how sean knows nothing about music!

― ~~~~ DODONGO DISLIKES SMOKE ~~~~ (ex machina), Thursday, 15 September 2005 15:11 (twenty years ago)

-- sean gramophone (sea...), September 15th, 2005.

As soon as Grunge happened The Swans did seem a bit...emotional, i guess.

― Googley Asearch (Toaster), Thursday, 15 September 2005 15:21 (twenty years ago)

For me it's still much more Blue Nile than Talking Heads and it continues to make me happy. Although i listen to it much less these days, it had a fairly long initial turntable life.

― Japanese Giraffe (Japanese Giraffe), Thursday, 15 September 2005 15:26 (twenty years ago)

They were on Letterman last night and put on a good performance. Dave said to Paul something like, "That's all we really ask for in a band, isn't it Paul?"

― PB, Thursday, 15 September 2005 15:32 (twenty years ago)

back story?! that "death in the family" crap was pure PR stuff and nothing to do with the band's own motivations.

Really? Funeral?

I don't like U2 or the Killers, so there's that. Nirvana I do enjoy; and you're right, they do indulge in some bigbigbig histrionics. Maybe they're just better at it?

― jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Thursday, 15 September 2005 15:35 (twenty years ago)

Histrionics was totally the wrong word cos I didn't mean "over-emoting", I meant "on the brink of hysteria", like the way the guy's voice (on "Rebellion" and "Power Out" anyway) will suddenly turn into this weird squeal, and the impression is half OMG-i-am-so-excited-just-to-be-singing!!! and half OMG-i-have-so-much-stuff-to-tell-you!!!

It's cute!

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 15 September 2005 15:40 (twenty years ago)

Oh, I thought histrionics was perfect.

― jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Thursday, 15 September 2005 16:25 (twenty years ago)

I thought they were okay and didn't really get the hype till I heard / saw some live performances. They really shine live. Funeral is over-produced, and drowns the dynamics and raw emotion of their music in reverb and pomp (just like in the 80s). Listen to their KEXP session, and if you still don't appreciate 'em, you probably never will....

http://www.kexp.org/aspnet_client/KEXPViewMediaGroup.aspx?rID=2289&pID=528&fID=539&artist=AI
(clicking on the Interview link plays the entire show - recommended)

― Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 15 September 2005 17:20 (twenty years ago)

But the 80s-ness of the production ("reverb and pomp" I suppose) is half of what's good about them! Emotion is not sushi.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 15 September 2005 17:26 (twenty years ago)

No, you're wrong. Emotion IS sushi.

― Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 15 September 2005 17:36 (twenty years ago)

I saw them on Letterman too (they did "rebellion (lies)") and didn't think they were over the top emotionally at all. In fact I liked it better than the live set I've listened to a few times because the audience adulation in that show kind of puts me off.

Also did they snub Dave or something at the end of the song? I thought I saw him go over to shake their hands like he usually does but then the show cut quickly to a title card before he got there.

― nickn (nickn), Thursday, 15 September 2005 20:00 (twenty years ago)

Do you guys like emo too? Bright eyes? Arcade Fire = Bright Eyes. Sometimes I think all the emo people had to latch on to something because emo went out of style so Bright Eyes and Arcade Fire fit the bill. They don't sound like Talking Heads at all to these ears.

And yes, histrionics is a good word to describe and also a good reason to dislike. It's impossible for me to take them seriously. It's like watching some bad "arty" film school short film, or reading a high schooler's poetry to Xiu Xiu or some shit.

Affected/overly dramatic singing styles rub me the wrong way. When that dude sings in the shower, you know it doesn't sound like that. Some of the songs are catchy I guess, but I can't get past the singing. Same with that Clap Your Hands bullshit.

― Jerkwater Johnson, Thursday, 15 September 2005 20:26 (twenty years ago)

The Great ("Wake Up," "Neiborhood #1," "Neighborhood #3," "Rebellion (Lies)") is still pretty great, the rest is eh.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Thursday, 15 September 2005 20:30 (twenty years ago)

No, aside from a vague interior grumbling about the backstory, which was just a PR thing after all, it's not the humorlessness that puts me off them--it's just the music, which doesn't seem to have anything to interest me. They all seem like fine people, there's just not much in their songs to interest me. I like big bands playing lots of instruments and doing silly things, but I don't like the Decembrists either, you know.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 15 September 2005 20:36 (twenty years ago)

I like Decemberists even less than Arcade Fire.

― Jerkwater Johnson, Thursday, 15 September 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

No, aside from a vague interior grumbling about the backstory, which was just a PR thing after all

ok can someone explain this to me please - i mean did they or did they not call the album funeral?

THIS THREAD IS MAKING ME CURIOUS!!!!

― jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Thursday, 15 September 2005 20:44 (twenty years ago)

um.. /histronics

― jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Thursday, 15 September 2005 20:45 (twenty years ago)

haha "just a PR thing," yes bands have absolutely no control whatsoever over what their publicists emphasize in press releases and whatnot

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Thursday, 15 September 2005 21:38 (twenty years ago)

I.e. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to judging the actual music and will separate the one from the other rather than using the one as a stick to beat the other etc. etc. I.e.i.e. the music itself doesn't sound much like dead grandparents to me, so it seems immaterial, thanks lots.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 15 September 2005 21:46 (twenty years ago)

what i mean to say is that obviously the album is a tribute to those who passed away, and certainly some of those emotions are tangled into the songs, but the songs were all (i think) written prior to the "big deaths" in the press release, and were even then being performed in a similar way. it's definitely not an album about (or inspired by) death, at least imgo.

eppy - sorry to misrepresent you.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Thursday, 15 September 2005 22:10 (twenty years ago)

Oh no, no problem, wasn't you.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 15 September 2005 22:13 (twenty years ago)

what i mean to say is that obviously the album is a tribute to those who passed away

that makes it sound maudlin and somewhat depressing. i see/hear it as more of a wake - a triumphant celebration of fulfilled lives lived, with a bloody great party going on, the likes of which i'd hope would happen at my own passing. in my dreams.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Thursday, 15 September 2005 22:54 (twenty years ago)

The answer is clear -- we must kill you and let you watch your own wake! (I have no idea how to make this come about.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 15 September 2005 22:55 (twenty years ago)

Whatever hapened to my Rock & Roll, indeed. Do you really think of that as Rock & Roll? I like the Arcade Fire record a little, but......come on, in 4 months the Strokes drop album number 3 on us. Big guitars. Songs about girls. Songs that make you want to have sex and drink beer, or drink sex and have beer. I'm up to here with all this elitist indie rock, hipper than thou, grad-school intellectual stuff.

― westerburger, Saturday, 17 September 2005 20:06 (twenty years ago)

come on, in 4 months the Strokes drop album number 3 on us. Big guitars. Songs about girls. Songs that make you want to have sex and drink beer, or drink sex and have beer.

hmmm... really? they make me want to drink water and have yoga.

― jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Saturday, 17 September 2005 21:05 (twenty years ago)

the Strokes are alright...

― BeeOK (boo radley), Saturday, 17 September 2005 21:31 (twenty years ago)

An interesting quality the album seems to have is that even many of the haters have at least one track they enjoy a lot, yet it's rarely the same track cited.

Anyway, I really like the record, a lot more than I did last year, and it surely would have made my top 10 over at least a couple of those I picked. When I interview Craig Finn a few months ago he noted how when he listened to "Funeral" for the first time - as a latecomer - there really seemed to be something special about the album, more than just hype. Which is why the distant above comparison to Violent Femmes is so OTM. I can imagine "Funeral" being to kids today what the first Violent Femmes album is to, um, kids today, too.

Death Cab are so airless they're almost painful to listen to. Their live shows are like exercises in stasis, and not in a good way. At least Arcade Fire bring the spazz.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Saturday, 17 September 2005 23:22 (twenty years ago)

VF is an interesting comparison; it makes some sense to me, though surely VF = goofy where AF = not goofy (in the extreme, sez me). and in both cases, the dude's voice annoys the living fuck out of me.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Sunday, 18 September 2005 00:02 (twenty years ago)

Now, the Violent Femmes were goofy, but only the same way the Talking Heads were goofy. It's stylized hyper-neurosis as dance music (via different post-modern approaches). The Arcade Fire are certainly stylized, though it seems in their case what previously would have been presented as neurosis has given way to what now passes for emo, which is certainly not goofy (if frequently silly). And that's where the Arcade Fire fit in. They might sound a little tightly wound sometimes, but as anyone who has seen them live can attest, with the exeption of Win, smiles abound, and smiles=release=lack of tension.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Sunday, 18 September 2005 00:25 (twenty years ago)

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Sunday, 18 September 2005 00:26 (twenty years ago)

I like the Arcade Fire record a little, but......come on, in 4 months the Strokes drop album number 3 on us.

I find this attempt at value judgment comparison deeply humorous.

I can imagine "Funeral" being to kids today what the first Violent Femmes album is to, um, kids today, too.

I find this attempt deeply horrifying.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 18 September 2005 04:41 (twenty years ago)

I was in the small camp of those who greeted Funeral with a halfhearted meh. So after listening to it again tonight, I have to say it has only improved with age.

If I were forced to compare these guys to anyone, I'd go with Elbow before the Violent Femmes.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Sunday, 18 September 2005 06:33 (twenty years ago)

FWIW, I recently played Funeral for an Ethiopian co-worker of mine and he loved it. This was a man whose taste in North American music didn't previously extend past the boundaries of the Death Row/Aftermath media empires.

― john bolton's body, Sunday, 18 September 2005 21:56 (twenty years ago)

...

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 18 September 2005 22:49 (twenty years ago)

I still think that they fit right in with the whole I

― Cunga (Cunga), Monday, 19 September 2005 02:30 (twenty years ago)

oh yeah.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 19 September 2005 04:20 (twenty years ago)

I still think that they fit right in with the whole I
-- Cunga (visionsofjohann...), September 18th, 2005.

Truer words were never

There's a DVD torrent making the rounds at dimeadozen and the Us Kids Know site of Arcade Fire live on French TV. As far as performance, set list, and spectacle, it's a high watermark. Grab it if you can....

Arcade Fire vocal stylings more in common with Born To Run-era Springsteen than they do with the Violent Femmes. Although I grant that AF may represent some sort of plateau of nerd rock not scaled since They Might Be Giants.

― Edward III (edward iii), Monday, 19 September 2005 16:20 (twenty years ago)

Caught the CBS 'Fashion Rocks' appearance, and I'm glad Bowie got the geek to shitcan his football helmet.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 19 September 2005 18:27 (twenty years ago)

I still say he sounds like Ian McCulloch (especially the "underneath the covers" bit).

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 19 September 2005 19:23 (twenty years ago)

Oops. I put the "heart" symbol and it deleted my post. I always forget.

― Cunga (Cunga), Monday, 19 September 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)

He shouldn't let his wife sing. Ever.

And someone please point out any common characteristic between AF and the Talking Heads. You don't need to reference the Talking Heads every time you talk about music.

― Nigel (Nigel), Monday, 19 September 2005 20:03 (twenty years ago)

And someone please point out any common characteristic between AF and the Talking Heads.

I've not made any direct correlation between the two groups but I do think the AF sounds like something Brian Eno would produce if he were trying to cash in on the current 80's revival. They actually kind of remind me of a collage of Eno groups. Roxy Music but without the charisma or personality of Bryan Ferry, the pretentiousness of U2 at times and the oddball intellectualism that I think is what reminds some people of the Talking Heads. That's the only thing I think AF and the Talking Heads have in common.

― Cunga (Cunga), Monday, 19 September 2005 20:20 (twenty years ago)

This band is the second coming of the stockholm monsters for me. widely lauded indie band whose music I cant get into because of the vocals not resonating for whatever reason.

― Stuh-du-du-du-du-du-du-denka (jingleberries), Monday, 19 September 2005 20:36 (twenty years ago)

"And someone please point out any common characteristic between AF and the Talking Heads."

Agnostic Front and Talking Heads = both bands from NYC that played at CBGBs!

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 19 September 2005 22:06 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

Today in UNCUT: JtN talks to the Arcade Dire, in the city of Saul Bellow!

I think they should have printed JtN's name in bigger letters, and perhaps horizontally. That annoyed me, slightly.

― the firefox, Thursday, 3 November 2005 14:49 (twenty years ago)

three years pass...

Kudos to Alan McGee for pointing out the similarities between The Waterboys and the Arcade Fire. I remember it taking people forever to imagine the proper reference points for this band.

― Cunga, Sunday, 12 April 2009 03:05 (sixteen years ago)

ha, that's otm, i had never thought of that

― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Sunday, 12 April 2009 03:06 (sixteen years ago)

five years pass...

just starting to get into this album

― Treeship, Friday, 6 June 2014 04:43 (eleven years ago)

Suggestion: The Arcade Fire are to the 00s what the Violent Femmes were to the 80s, Q: Who are the 90s equivalent in terms of cult / niche appeal ?
― DJ Martian (djmartian), Tuesday, September 13, 2005 8:56 AM (8 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lmao....so not otm

― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Friday, 6 June 2014 16:18 (eleven years ago)

Still don't understand the fuss and probably never will.

― Toni Braxton-Hicks (Turrican), Friday, 6 June 2014 16:19 (eleven years ago)

they have a lot of great songs... theyre a great stadium band honestly. i remember working in the kitchen at one of their shows for the suburbs, taking a break and walking out and being really deeply moved by "Laika," which never stuck out to me before... really like i was walking to get ice or something and just stood there looking at the jumbotron in a trance... incredibly moving song.

― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Friday, 6 June 2014 16:29 (eleven years ago)

At the time of Funeral it was mostly the freshness that drove the initial enthusiasm, IMHO. A bit like when The Pixies suddenly exploded onto the scene with their first EP and album. Black Francis sounded a lot more like the dude from Violent Femmes though :-)

― StanM, Friday, 6 June 2014 16:43 (eleven years ago)

rrrrrrrrrrreally not looking forward to the thinkpieces this year

― troy na'vi (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 6 June 2014 16:51 (eleven years ago)

ugh this record

― Οὖτις, Friday, 6 June 2014 16:54 (eleven years ago)

love this record, can't wait for the thinkpieces.

― intheblanks, Friday, 6 June 2014 16:58 (eleven years ago)

I've only heard this twice but both times it felt like the worst aspects of Modest Mouse combined with the worst aspects of Sufjan Stevens. And I like both of those!

― Maggie killed Quagmire (collest baby ever) (frogbs), Friday, 6 June 2014 16:59 (eleven years ago)

only time i've been in Montreal was the week this album came out, saw this show

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/arcade-fire/2004/the-salvation-army-citadel-montreal-qc-canada-53d49389.html

― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Friday, 6 June 2014 17:03 (eleven years ago)

for a long time, my record would skip and replay the "our mother should have" part in laika where regine and that other due are kinda yelling over the top. it was annoying.

― sufi john paxson (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 6 June 2014 17:08 (eleven years ago)

i don't blame them for that, though

― sufi john paxson (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 6 June 2014 17:09 (eleven years ago)

ok fine i do

― sufi john paxson (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 6 June 2014 17:13 (eleven years ago)

find it sad that The Arcade Fire are the midnoughties indie band who've made it through, and the Fiery Furnaces have become a music-critic footnote at best

― Who whom kissed? (imago), Friday, 6 June 2014 17:15 (eleven years ago)

haiti -> rebellion (lies) -> in the backseat is the good run on this album, but I would rather listen to the fiery furnaces. fiery furnaces albums definitely also sound better, and I'd rather listen to them. I think the stadium rock quality of arcade fire has brought them more success. I get the feeling that you hate stadium rock qualities.

― sufi john paxson (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 6 June 2014 17:22 (eleven years ago)

was thinking the same thing :( i forget about them all the time. but blueberry boat is so fucking amazing

― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Friday, 6 June 2014 17:22 (eleven years ago)

well FF are way more proggy too. Although I really like their first couple releases, the EPs and first album

― Οὖτις, Friday, 6 June 2014 17:23 (eleven years ago)

you say 'proggy' like a cuss

― Who whom kissed? (imago), Friday, 6 June 2014 17:26 (eleven years ago)

find it sad that The Arcade Fire are the midnoughties indie band who've made it through, and the Fiery Furnaces have become a music-critic footnote at best

― Who whom kissed? (imago), Friday, June 6, 2014 10:15 AM (13 minutes ago)

spent a good deal more time w the furnaces (mostly c blueberry boat), but not deeply familiar w/invested in either. have the sense that arcade fire deliver their material like, "i am really FEELING THIS THING for you people RIGHT NOW," where FF are more, "this is an interesting idea, and i wrote a weird song about it." the former generally tends to sell more.

― riot grillz (contenderizer), Friday, 6 June 2014 17:41 (eleven years ago)

I like Fiery Furnaces, but had a low-key lol at the idea that it could have been them selling out Madison Square Garden and winning Grammys.

― intheblanks, Friday, 6 June 2014 17:44 (eleven years ago)

that wasn't a knock imago it's just something that tends to limit mass/stadium appeal. as does their more cerebral nature, as contenderizer points out. I find AF's perpetual over-emoting earnestness really irritating personally

― Οὖτις, Friday, 6 June 2014 17:46 (eleven years ago)

this has to be one of my first threads ever on this board. i know a Moose thread was first but this has to be like second or third or something.

― Bee OK, Saturday, 7 June 2014 01:44 (eleven years ago)

and you never looked back.

― mattresslessness, Saturday, 7 June 2014 07:04 (eleven years ago)

I'd say The Dears were the also-rans more than The Fiery Furnaces. Epic, orchestral, super-ambitious Montreal rock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCjrRMwv7I8

― did click through tho on the money (Eazy), Saturday, 7 June 2014 07:39 (eleven years ago)

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