The time of the year has come to declare 2010 a year that will most likely be remembered as the best year in music in recent memory. First we had Spoon’s Transference, the up and coming Local Natives Gorilla Manor, Beach House’s breakthrough Teen Dream, The National’s haunting and spectacular High Violet and now the Arcade Fire. Win Butler and his crew are the only people who could get away with a flash built record player with 10 second snippets of a new single on their webpage.
The single was for “The Suburbs”, and it’s b-side “Month of May”. Yesterday the tracks leaked, and before embarking on their summer tour, Arcade Fire announced their 3rd LP will be titled “The Suburbs”, and be released on August 3rd in the US. I’ll be sure to be getting the double vinyl of this record. One of the great things was the CD packaging for Neon Bible, and the flipbooks and everything contained within. Although many consider Neon Bible a disappointing follow up to Funeral, I enjoyed it very much. The live show I saw at The Atlantic Civic Center following the record was the best live show I’ve ever seen.
The album artwork for The Suburbs is interesting enough, a car in front of house with a lot of distortion. I’ll most likely go really crazy over the packaging when it comes out. You can also listen to the first track and play around with the lyrics over at their website.
Listen: Arcade Fire- The Suburbs
I’ve been looking forward to this day since the day Boxer was released, since the first time I put my ears to Alligator. The release of High Violet has been the most anticipated album of the year for me because I knew that it would be their third masterpiece. I’m not an overblown National fan who has always loved them. Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers didn’t strike me immediately. The point it clicked to me was when I saw them open up for the Arcade Fire and their live performance of the track “Start A War” from Boxer. To see Matt Berninger’s brooding voice “They expected something better/better than before” on top of the restrained melody and Bryan Devendorf’s carefully crafted percussion.
Fast forward to this past Tuesday, May 10. Criminal Records opens at 11am and I’m the first in the store to purchase High Violet on vinyl. My first listen to High Violet was on vinyl; I ignored all the leaks, the NY Times stream and waited it out to hear this classic on LP. It was worth it.
High Violet to me, isn’t so much of a progression of their sound, but the next logical step. Matt Berninger is a father, the world has gotten a lot more apocalyptic. There’s some really crazy people out there. So naturally, a track like “Afraid of Everyone” would not have fit anywhere on Alligator or even Boxer. I absolutely cling on to Berninger’s words; they’re a lyrical feast and dream. The characters he creates, all the way from Karen on Alligator to the brain-fearing folks in High Violet. For the record, only Berninger and company can truly pull off a song that includes the lyrics “I was afraid I’d eat your brains/Because I’m Evil” as the chorus. Call me crazy, but it makes complete sense to me.
It makes me happy to see that the AV Club Interview with Berninger and his sentiments about the progression of their sound. Among other things, fear of the long-gone optimism of pre-Obama and gaining more fans, he explains his role in the band.
“If I’m the dad in the band, then I’m the Chevy Chase version. I’m a stubborn guy that loses his temper, sometimes driving the station wagon in the wrong direction for hours and hours and never admitting that he’s gone the wrong way. I do have maybe an unbalanced amount of power in the band because if I don’t like something I won’t sing to it. That means that only the songs I like are going to be on the record. That’s unfair, but that’s the way it is.”
-Matt Berninger of The National
That description is absolutely perfect. Also; It was good to hear that they decided to let the sound explode on this record, after the restraint that was perfected on Boxer. So this record might raise The National to a higher crowd venue, and more fans, but Berninger and Company seem to keep perfecting that sound that I’m not really sure is comparable. Others have compared it to Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Nick Cave, but no one can argue that The National are building a great legacy for themselves. Pick up High Violet now. It also sounds extra awesome on vinyl.
Read: AV Club Interviews Matt Berninger
I know, right? First there was talk about their hip-hop collaborations, and then you have Dan Auerbach’s solo album (which is great, by the way). The keys are busy as they have another studio album out on May 18. Will it be highly produced like Attack and Release? Will we ever hear raw Black Keys like The Big Come Up again? Will they cover The Beatles again? Only one track on it was produced by Danger Mouse, who helmed Attack and Release. We’ll see, but if we get anything like Dan Auerbach’s “Keep it Hid” from his solo album, I think we’ll be good hands.
Oh and that album art above; apparently that is the album art. Soak it in, it’s pretty great. And pretty straightforward. You almost know exactly what you’re getting into there.
