Broken Social Scene...C/D?

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I've had the Broken Social Scene album for a couple of weeks now and I'm in love with it. Thoughts?

booyah achieved, Thursday, 20 February 2003 15:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Get the one on Noise Factory records as well. And demand they wear leather trousers if you ever see them live. http://www.noisefactoryrecords.com

Its funny since I have an intense dislike of By Divine Right that I even would listen to this band let alone like it.

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 20 February 2003 16:34 (twenty-three years ago)

also way WAY too early for C/D.

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 20 February 2003 16:34 (twenty-three years ago)

newest one is total classic, esp tracks 2,3 and 4. first one is a bit of a snooze-fest though.

Grell (Grell), Thursday, 20 February 2003 19:55 (twenty-three years ago)

I heard them just the other day on a random-download tip, and I was very impressed. When did this come out? Is the first record more ambient? I like the ambient track I downloaded quite a bit.

Adam A. (Keiko), Thursday, 20 February 2003 23:13 (twenty-three years ago)

The first record really doesn't resemble the second at all. I wouldn't call it ambient, per se, but it's definitely more relaxed. Owning both is necessary for very different reasons...

paul cox (paul cox), Thursday, 20 February 2003 23:28 (twenty-three years ago)

... if you need not one but 2 records of boring hippy crap.

Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 20 February 2003 23:30 (twenty-three years ago)

"boring hippy crap"

If you're going to compare them to something negative, get it straight. "Boring Thrill Jockey crap" would be much more appropriate.

paul cox (paul cox), Thursday, 20 February 2003 23:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, Wavelength, its filled with them stinking hippies. Their stench nearly overpowers the Sneaku food. Now if only we could get those stinkin Hippies to wear leather pants like Cram, then it would be grebt, it would even be a freaking bizaster.

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 21 February 2003 01:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Haven't heard the record yet but apparently people love it.

The live show is terrible though. Very boring guitar jams and long pointless songs with lots of people on stage.

But I suppose if you listen to the album enough, you'd probably like it and their live show. kinda like pachelbel's canon

ddd, Saturday, 22 February 2003 17:11 (twenty-three years ago)

it's about time we had a thread for these guys.

classic.

i guess i'm a hippy, since i've got tickets for the show.

dyson (dyson), Saturday, 22 February 2003 18:43 (twenty-three years ago)

I read three rave reviews of their new album "You Forgot It in People". At Pitchfork (Mr Schreiber himself), Stylus and Tiny Mixtapes...

Is this the Trail of Dead of 2003 (I must admit I never listened to them) or is this great stuff?

When I first heard about all these Toronto post rockers coming together I feared the worst. Two or three years ago I was quite into Tortoise, Godspeed, A Silver Mt Zion etc but now I am not interested in that kind of prog for the late 90s at all anymore. It's always the same. Crescendos bore me now. But according to the reviews the album sounds more like indie pop? Is that true?

alex in mainhattan (alex63), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 12:07 (twenty-three years ago)

yes

dyson (dyson), Thursday, 27 February 2003 06:33 (twenty-three years ago)

two months pass...
"indie is shit hot now", ilm tells me. except for a fingerful of tracks (hmm... er.. that "maps" song by those yeahx3 people is nice..), nothing's taken me by my moth-eaten earthtone t-shirt and rocked/moped/whined me back to junior high thus far. as alex says, there seems to be nothing but love for this album from the usual indienet sources. the couple tracks i've heard were 'competent', but the 'back to good ol' indie rock' tag has me raisin' eyebrows. any more thoughts? where are my reformed post-indie brethren? listening to adult (ps i like adult)? nabisco? popshots?

mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Sunday, 11 May 2003 20:50 (twenty-three years ago)

i think bnw said on some other thread that he liked something from it.

mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Sunday, 11 May 2003 20:51 (twenty-three years ago)

answers in 3 minutes or it's back to hunting down the remaining 84 new things that have jay-z on them.

mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Sunday, 11 May 2003 20:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, someone put "Lover's Spit" on a cd mix for me and I quite liked it. The whole album is streamed here. Apparently they're featured on the Queer as Folk soundtrack. I've only heard Lover's Spit, and its definitely a bit Smith-y (and yet I like it all the same).

bnw (bnw), Sunday, 11 May 2003 21:02 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...
Just picked this up today, wow.

Chris V. (Chris V), Thursday, 10 July 2003 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, it's great.
and to answer your question alex, while sonically, there are a lot of similarities between BSS and AYWKUSTFU (in regards to their sound), broken social scene takes the cake. I never really liked Trail of dead. They just bore me. BSS on the other hand have some really good, catchy songs, while still experimenting a lot with MBV-ish guitar stuff and heavily gated drums and shit.

Felcher (Felcher), Thursday, 10 July 2003 15:45 (twenty-two years ago)

hmm some lyrics about drinking piss. interesting.

Chris V. (Chris V), Thursday, 10 July 2003 16:22 (twenty-two years ago)

sadly that's the freshest moment on the entire album.

fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Thursday, 10 July 2003 16:25 (twenty-two years ago)

i like the BSS album, and onstage, they're great. However, some of the loungey tracks tend to bore me.

Kingfish (Kingfish), Thursday, 10 July 2003 16:53 (twenty-two years ago)

bore you in a good way¿

dyson (dyson), Thursday, 10 July 2003 16:56 (twenty-two years ago)

bore me so that I'm glad that they don't play them live.

Kingfish (Kingfish), Thursday, 10 July 2003 17:07 (twenty-two years ago)

their live show isn't that bad. the lead singer wears one of those indy stereotype baseball caps with 'DEATH COCK' written on it w/ a sharpie! anyone... anyone..?

I actually really like this band, all sarcasm aside. Its a pretty diverse set of indie-friendly songs. good times.

bill stevens (bscrubbins), Thursday, 10 July 2003 22:55 (twenty-two years ago)

they are playing tomorrow night in Boston, shall I go see the live show?

Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 11 July 2003 10:37 (twenty-two years ago)

yes.

like i said, i liked the live show. took a good amount of pics there, too, which i'll get around to putting online one of these days.

Kingfish (Kingfish), Friday, 11 July 2003 12:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Go see them. Out of curosity, where are they playing?

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 11 July 2003 13:04 (twenty-two years ago)

TT the Bears.

Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 11 July 2003 13:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Excellent.

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 11 July 2003 13:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw this band yesterday at "River Rocks". It was free, because 7-up sponsored the show. Rollerblading street-teams sporadically accosted us with little courier bags full of a new brand of soda, "dn-L" (what you get if you turn the 7-up logo upside down). The soda is bright green. The first bottle thrust into my hand I threw in the trash because it felt warm. The second bottle I opened; it tastes pretty bad. I'll admit the green color is kind of daring.

The MC for the event wasn't experienced at working a crowd. He was friendly and had a nice smile, but it seemed more like his buddies said he should do it because he was "outgoing" or something. Anyway it definitely wasn’t because he had any idea how to get people excited. For instance, they wanted to get a picture of the crowd going wild. In order to induce this state, the MC told us—just moments after the applause had died down for the opener—that they wanted a picture of the crowd going wild. "Okay, on three, ready? One, two, THREE!" Wooooo. "Now that wasn't very good." A narcotized awareness of being criticized en masse. Resentment. "One, two, THREE!!" Eh. He gave up. We absently sipped our dn-L and waited for Broken Social Scene. They arrived with three guitar players and said their first song was "for the Hudson River". I tried really hard to hear the lyrics but I couldn't make them out. It didn't seem to be about the Hudson River, but since they said it was it felt like a lie. All three guitars washed together in a sheet of flangey reverb, kind of like My Bloody Valentine and kind of like the Afghan Whigs. We had fun playing this game, my friends and I. "Who do they sound like?" I wasn't very good because I didn't really follow bands like that in the 90s, but they came up with a ton of them, so it was surprising how few abutments and protrusions there were in the music. They'd spackled all their fractures and just rolled along, just barely present on the radar. Like the Hudson River a bit, actually. I honestly have no idea why people care about bands like this. Maybe it's pleasant and ignorable, like baseball? Anyway, we threw the rest of out dn-L in the trash and went to get something to eat.


ALTERNATE REVIEW:

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE

No wonder.

Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 11 July 2003 15:07 (twenty-two years ago)

the show in new york last night, on the river, was all kinds of fun. even if the lead woman wore a bum bag/fannypack around her shoulder.

bucky wunderlick (bucky), Friday, 11 July 2003 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I didn't know you were back, Tracer!

Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 11 July 2003 15:23 (twenty-two years ago)

No way was I gonna miss River Rocks!

Hey bucky did you see Jeanine Garofolo? (Her name is forever pronounced now as "JEEN-ANN GARAH FOLO" by our crew, after a wonderful mispronunciation by the aunt of my colocateur.) She had a blonde dye job and looked skinny, almost gaunt, she was leaning against the railing and if she wasn't smoking she looked like she was (in any hair color, heh).

Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 11 July 2003 16:31 (twenty-two years ago)

two months pass...
so...
should i go see Broken Social Scene tonight?

or the Black Eyed Snakes??

i know very little about either, save for the few BSS tracks i've downloaded (and like quite a bit). Opinions, suggestions, threats welcome...

Will (will), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 22:11 (twenty-two years ago)

BSS you tool, now get off the internet and pick show.

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 23:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Thanks, Noodles. I "picked show" and was pleased...

BSS was fan-fucking-tabulous. they didn't play the piss-drinking song, tho..

Will (will), Thursday, 2 October 2003 05:50 (twenty-two years ago)

This record is a bit of a revelation to me. It's sort of a math rock Isn't Anything...

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 9 October 2003 20:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Finding out it has the same producer as Mean Red Spiders last two albums (Stars and Sons/Still Life Fast Moving) makes so much more sense of the album.

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 9 October 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

six months pass...
DUD!!!!!!!!! I heard this today, more typical indie snoozefest crap that the kids seem to love so much. UGHGHGHGHGH

Lil' Fancy Kpants (The K is Silent) (ex machina), Monday, 12 April 2004 16:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm really confused by the people upthread saying they sound like AYWKUBTTOWTFLOLBBQ, cuz I just ain't feelin it.

'Anthem for a seventeen-year-old girl' is lovely; the rest of 'you forgot it in people' hasn't really grabbed me.

cis (cis), Monday, 12 April 2004 21:58 (twenty-two years ago)

It sounds like nothing to me. Music absolutely free of personality or charm.

dean! (deangulberry), Monday, 12 April 2004 22:00 (twenty-two years ago)

dean! otm!!! snuggles!!!

Lil' Fancy Kpants (The K is Silent) (ex machina), Monday, 12 April 2004 22:39 (twenty-two years ago)

five months pass...
It would appear that Broken Social Scene have broken up: http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2004-08-26/cover_story.php

Taxi Dancing in the Soft Prison (Ben Boyer), Thursday, 16 September 2004 18:43 (twenty-one years ago)

That's not what I get from that article...

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 16 September 2004 18:47 (twenty-one years ago)

new album in feb.

mark p (Mark P), Thursday, 16 September 2004 18:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I suppose I jumped the gun, but the "The posters for this Friday's Harbourfront gig bill it as the band's final show ever" quote seemed like something...

Taxi Dancing in the Soft Prison (Ben Boyer), Thursday, 16 September 2004 18:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I've been to a couple of their "this is our last show ever"'s.

alex in montreal, Thursday, 16 September 2004 18:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I think the article is basically saying they are always teetering.

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 16 September 2004 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Got it.... sorry for the breaking news, then. There's nothing to see here...

Taxi Dancing in the Soft Prison (Ben Boyer), Thursday, 16 September 2004 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

I wonder if anyone who listens to the new one knows what it's about ?

calstars, Saturday, 1 April 2017 02:23 (nine years ago)

"Our Faces Split the Coast in Half" is CLASSIC. never been able to figure out the lyrics to that one...

flappy bird, Saturday, 1 April 2017 05:09 (nine years ago)

That song has lyrics?

phantompenguin, Monday, 3 April 2017 04:29 (nine years ago)

i mean it could be gibberish vocalizing but idk always sounded like words buried in there

flappy bird, Monday, 3 April 2017 05:05 (nine years ago)

one month passes...

New single kind of underwhelming?

calstars, Monday, 15 May 2017 23:45 (nine years ago)

i hadn't thought of them in years but Hug of Thunder came on my Release Radar today and I rather enjoyed it.

(•̪●) (carne asada), Friday, 19 May 2017 13:11 (nine years ago)

one month passes...

I've come around to the single. It sounds nice and warm now like bss does

calstars, Thursday, 22 June 2017 01:31 (eight years ago)

two weeks pass...

bought the record and have invested several listens but something just seems off. probably user error

calstars, Wednesday, 12 July 2017 22:17 (eight years ago)

two weeks pass...

This album is wayyyy better than I expected. I put off listening to it because I was never a big fan of these guys, "7/4 (Shoreline)" excepted, but this is really hitting the spot for me right now.

I'm a particular fan of "Halfway Home," which has the muscle and drive that "7/4" has and most of their other tracks do not, and "Towers and Masons."

Many men scream death (voodoo chili), Thursday, 27 July 2017 22:19 (eight years ago)

I tried really hard to like this album but I ended up trying way too hard for it to be natural.

calstars, Thursday, 27 July 2017 22:33 (eight years ago)

The album is great for biking. Good rhythmic drive, though not too tight to pedal along to, and a lot of climaxes. Have heard it a lot over the last couple of weeks.

Frederik B, Thursday, 27 July 2017 22:37 (eight years ago)

I think Frederik has confused the new BSS album with his favourite porno.

The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Thursday, 27 July 2017 22:39 (eight years ago)

LOL

kornrulez6969, Thursday, 27 July 2017 22:45 (eight years ago)

Porno is bad for biking. Everyone knows that.

Frederik B, Thursday, 27 July 2017 23:29 (eight years ago)

lol!

calstars, Thursday, 27 July 2017 23:56 (eight years ago)

Spoken like a true specialist :D

The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Friday, 28 July 2017 17:10 (eight years ago)

yeah I'm a fan of the album, but people listening to music while biking are dangerous and scare me.

Van Horn Street, Friday, 28 July 2017 21:53 (eight years ago)

I keep thinking that this album is named Days of Thunder.

spastic heritage, Saturday, 29 July 2017 11:26 (eight years ago)

Not really a fan of this record. Too middle of the road. This band caught lightning in a bottle a long time ago.

yesca, Saturday, 29 July 2017 14:12 (eight years ago)

one year passes...

What do we think of this new EP?

calstars, Saturday, 16 February 2019 00:18 (seven years ago)

I like it.

michaellambert, Saturday, 16 February 2019 10:26 (seven years ago)

one month passes...

I’m probably wrong but this single “can’t find my heart” sounds like maybe the most urgent and real thing they’ve done in years
https://open.spotify.com/track/6iRYhL6cwnuT2EnWsiDW15?si=P-zPnBW6Q4m3ACmWMuWj6Q

calstars, Wednesday, 27 March 2019 22:08 (seven years ago)

four years pass...

Twenty Broken Social Scene threads? Really?

Got a cheap used copy of their first album the other day. I love it...great driving music, reminds me of Yo La Tengo at their meandering-instrumental best.

clemenza, Friday, 29 December 2023 20:42 (two years ago)

I should prob give it a go, along with the last two, but #3 never hit me like #2.

organ doner (ledge), Friday, 29 December 2023 20:55 (two years ago)

yeah I don’t really like too much of their other stuff but the first album is beautiful. Clemenza, you might like their previous album as KC Accidental, it’s sort of in the same vein

brimstead, Friday, 29 December 2023 21:07 (two years ago)

Will definitely look for that, thanks. This, the first song from the debut, is a good test. If you love it as much as I do, you'll like the whole album; if it bores you, ditto.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZuikjeK6Do

clemenza, Friday, 29 December 2023 21:47 (two years ago)

Was just thinking about them the other day. Love the s/t.

calstars, Friday, 29 December 2023 22:30 (two years ago)

I had one of those experiences where seeing them live made me like the records less. (Granted, I saw them live, for the first time, only a couple years ago. Maybe they were mind-blowing 20 years ago but the show I saw very much had the vibe of dads in search of their lost glory.)

sctttnnnt (pgwp), Saturday, 30 December 2023 00:25 (two years ago)

Steve west air drum fill

calstars, Saturday, 30 December 2023 00:47 (two years ago)

I saw one of them open for Television in 2014, and in a low-key, non-disastrous way, it was one of the least effective professional shows I've ever seen.

Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 30 December 2023 01:01 (two years ago)

“One of them?”
Had to be Kevin or Brendan right

calstars, Saturday, 30 December 2023 01:26 (two years ago)

I looked into KC Accidental and ended up ordering a used compilation from Amazon. The two original CDs are too expensive--one a little, the other ridiculous--and I couldn't find them on Soulseek.

clemenza, Saturday, 30 December 2023 14:28 (two years ago)

one year passes...

I never really caught onto them and am listening to YFIIP for the first time right now, it's quite good imho.

butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Saturday, 15 February 2025 22:10 (one year ago)

two weeks pass...

Saw the trailer for an upcoming documentary last night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pCV1zjv1zU

Will see it for sure. As I probably posted somewhere above, I became a fan belatedly thanks to a friend who got me out to see them a couple of times, including the show that was used for the earlier film (This Movie Is Broken).

clemenza, Wednesday, 5 March 2025 14:50 (one year ago)

BSS were always kinda hit-and-miss for me, but I interviewed Andrew Whiteman for a local alt.monthy some time in the 2000s, when he was touring with his side (or main?) project Apostle of Hustle, and he was likely the kindest and friendliest musician I've ever interacted with. I was young, and possibly looked/came off as even younger, but he was enthusiastic and thoroughly considerate throughout our conversation, even asking "do you have enough stuff" when I wrapped up the interview (as written, I can see how that might look condescending, especially considering my age, but it absolutely was not). Perhaps fittingly, my favourite BSS song is one of his.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqyVj4_At8w

cryptosicko, Wednesday, 5 March 2025 15:21 (one year ago)

Nice. I don't know much about the various offshoots beyond Feist, plus there's a Jason Collett song I like:

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

clemenza, Wednesday, 5 March 2025 15:26 (one year ago)

if you love Andrew (who is absolutely wonderful), he recently founded a new label devoted to SONIC POETRY and has just released a collaborative album with thee mightee Anne Waldman:
https://soundcloud.com/siren-recordings

sean gramophone, Wednesday, 5 March 2025 15:26 (one year ago)

Oh cool! I've actually met Waldman as well--at a University function where it took everything in me to ask her for stories about Dylan, etc.

cryptosicko, Wednesday, 5 March 2025 15:30 (one year ago)

I… loathe Waldman, but that’s because of the way she wields her power to the detriment of some people I know.

butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Wednesday, 5 March 2025 17:13 (one year ago)

Oh how thee mightee have fallen (over the course of three consecutive posts)

Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 5 March 2025 17:21 (one year ago)

I mean, she has only been kind to me, but a friend of mine was basically run out of her job by Waldman

butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Wednesday, 5 March 2025 18:09 (one year ago)

It's a bit facile, but the sugary shoe gaze drive of K.C Accidental's "Nancy and the girdle boy" has been getting a lot of rotation on late night highway airport pick-up runs. Perfect soundtrack for that particular occasion

H.P, Wednesday, 5 March 2025 22:34 (one year ago)

Do we have a "songs that need to be played max volume, windows down, top speed, empty road" thread?

H.P, Wednesday, 5 March 2025 22:37 (one year ago)

I don’t think so but you should totally start that thread

Clever Message Board User Name (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 6 March 2025 10:34 (one year ago)

ten months pass...

Album title is pretty self-parodically BSS/Kevin-coded, opening track sounds fine to these ears, but am hoping Newfeld will bring the weirdness on at least a couple of other songs on here once it's all out on 8 May 2026: https://brokensocialscene.bandcamp.com/album/remember-the-humans

A moron shaped fool (Craig D.), Tuesday, 3 February 2026 18:26 (three months ago)

Touring with Metric and Stars this year.

Come On, (Eazy), Tuesday, 3 February 2026 18:40 (three months ago)

this is rad, I only saw them once and they were great. Any news whether Feist will be with them?

I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Wednesday, 4 February 2026 01:56 (three months ago)

three months pass...

I've posted a few video clips my friend Scott Woods (former ILX'or) has done, things on radio and Christgau and movies that were basically personal projects. He put this together for the new Broken Social Scene album--he has a connection to the band--and they're using it as a trailer on their website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tNQcjUB2Us

clemenza, Friday, 8 May 2026 03:59 (one week ago)

i put on YFIIP a few days back and my first thought was "looks just like the sun" is bootleg sublime.

My homies buttthole surfers' record sounds like a f (Western® with Bacon Flavor), Friday, 8 May 2026 04:13 (one week ago)

this gruppe never let down. new ones full of belters hi NRG let’s go !!

maelin, Friday, 15 May 2026 14:32 (six days ago)


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