Band: The Arcade Fire

[Angry_Dragon]

NOT CRAP

[Noah]

Crap with a vengence




-Noah

[mattw]

I liked "Neighborhood # 3- Lights Out" or whatever it's called

I find myself saying that a lot lately- "that one song is good, but..."

The album format as a whole is dead- most bands want to get a few good singles out there and that's about it. The Arcade Fire seem to be sufficient evidence for this, as the few other songs I've heard from that LP are mediocre at best

[shagboy]

100% not crap from me. their live show is very good.

[prockwell]

I like the record. Some of it is too..er, um...theatric maybe. I'd like to see them live.

n/c

[gio]

Funeral is not crap. It is not economical, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is certainly not crap.

Now as for that xmas record...

[Jeremy]

boring.

[shagboy]

Now as for that xmas record...

do you know what the xmas record was? it was a christmas party at the arcade fire people house two years ago at which many attendees decided to record christmas songs. it's not even the band this thread is about doing the songs, by any stretch of the imagination...

[gio]

Now as for that xmas record...

do you know what the xmas record was? it was a christmas party at the arcade fire people house two years ago at which many attendees decided to record christmas songs. it's not even the band this thread is about doing the songs, by any stretch of the imagination...

Actually, i've never heard it, hence the ellipses. it just seemed like a silly idea, which apparently it was (to release). Bear in mind, i'm not recanting: I'll back up my n/c vote by saying this band is a great example of young creative musical folks being young and creative and musical. In fact, in light of the hipness-craptitude that threatens 'indie rock' (see Bradley's rant on some band called The Killers) an absurd xmas record is pretty refreshing.

[Redline]

Bruce Springsteen

[MattPeterson]

I'll vote Crap.

Last fall I worked in this "office" related to the NYC indie rock music INDUSTRY, and they put that album on ALL the time.

They're a okay/good band, with an okay/good record, but are they great, or amazing, or "saviors" of something? No. And it pisses me off that hipster and industry types each this shit up.

They are perhaps the most overrated band of the last 12 months, and for that I'll give them CRAP.

[toomanyhelicopters]

I'll vote Crap.

Last fall I worked in this "office" related to the NYC indie rock music INDUSTRY, and they put that album on ALL the time.

They're a okay/good band, with an okay/good record, but are they great, or amazing, or "saviors" of something? No. And it pisses me off that hipster and industry types each this shit up.

They are perhaps the most overrated band of the last 12 months, and for that I'll give them CRAP.

freshest NY-music-industry-employee-lawyer-guy recommendation, circa today, is a band called Bloc Party. were you inundated with Franz Ferdinand too, or was that already too mainstream when you were working there?

i wanna know what the deal is with this Muse video i keep seeing on M2... first it came out a while ago and had no album listed, no label listed, no director... just the band name and the song name. now they're showing a new video, and it's fancied up a little, has a director, a label, all that. but how come the only place i've ever heard of these guys is on M2?

[gio]

I'll vote Crap.

Last fall I worked in this "office" related to the NYC indie rock music INDUSTRY, and they put that album on ALL the time.

They're a okay/good band, with an okay/good record, but are they great, or amazing, or "saviors" of something? No. And it pisses me off that hipster and industry types each this shit up.

They are perhaps the most overrated band of the last 12 months, and for that I'll give them CRAP.

I don't know where to begin pointing out the what's wrong with this 'critique."

nevertheless...

1. Just because "industry types" each them up (sic) doesn't make them crap. Did industry types make the music? No. the music was made in some barn in New England.
2. The record came out in September. Yes, there was a ton of immediate hype. Note that said hype has nothing to do with outfits or hairdos or colored fingernails, much less middle-to-large record label fanfare.
3. The record, it is a good and honest record. Hype be damned. We'll see how they handle it. September.

But to your credit, I understand how irritating it can be to hear something over and over against your will. I first experienced this as an early pubescent lad when Green Day hit the radio. The memory of Dookie tunes alone still conjures memories of bumbling awkwardness and inexplicable boners.

Hate away, everyone. I'll fight to the teeth.

[shagboy]

i was just going to say... how can you judge a band by the hype they receive? should i vote crap on slint just because a lot of people here like them? (HAHAHA!)

i think they're making genuine music and putting their heart into it, and it happens to have struck a chord with a lot of people (apologies for the heavy dose of cliche). go see them play, and listen to their album. don't vote based on the obnoxious dick who tried to pour them down your throat.

you can still vote crap if you dislike them, but it doesn't even sound like you do.

[kerble]

Now as for that xmas record...

do you know what the xmas record was? it was a christmas party at the arcade fire people house two years ago at which many attendees decided to record christmas songs. it's not even the band this thread is about doing the songs, by any stretch of the imagination...

Part of the problem of this thing is that last bastion of integrity, pitchfork had erroneously stated that that "Arcade Fire Christmas" was in fact them. It was not. Pitchfork recanted the error in a half ass way, yet has managed to remove that bit of evidence (I searched for it) from their site since they did the new revamping.

I know they're fish in a barrel, but c'mon, they totally slagged the band for it and only made a quiet half-assed apology for skewering them.

anyway:

I think the Arcade Fire are 04's answer to Interpol. What a horribly overrated band.

Have you seen them live yet? I thought the album was 'okay' until I caught their live show. It was brilliant. One of the best shows I've seen in years. I've never seen that many (7) people in a band where all of them were rocking out the most. The instrument switching and the reckless abandon they played with were thrilling.

I mean, there was a physical altercation (humorous) between the guitarist/singer and the keyboard/percussion dude that happened during the first song and all this shit got knocked down, yet the song kept roaring along anyway even as instruments dropped out.

They did the songs with a lot of nuts and it sounded great. They really won over the crowd over the course of the set, too. In chicago, people often just fold their arms and frown, but people actually let loose and were singing along and dancing and shit, all the way to the back.

I give them a thumbs up live.




Faiz

[gio]

Now as for that xmas record...

do you know what the xmas record was? it was a christmas party at the arcade fire people house two years ago at which many attendees decided to record christmas songs. it's not even the band this thread is about doing the songs, by any stretch of the imagination...

Part of the problem of this thing is that last bastion of integrity, pitchfork had erroneously stated that that "Arcade Fire Christmas" was in fact them. It was not. Pitchfork recanted the error in a half ass way, yet has managed to remove that bit of evidence (I searched for it) from their site since they did the new revamping.

[/quote]

I've been wanged by faulty journalism! I'm so glad I hadn't written something more definitive.

I'm sorry I missed them, but they'll be back. At least I had a consolation prize, seeing Camper Van Halen in Madrid.

[MattPeterson]

I'm not voting CRAP solely because the hype exists, but more so because it over-rates and over-states the quality and importance of this band. In reference to this context in which I heard the record, I'd say it is CRAP. (granted, there are two options in this poll - I don't hate the band)

And part of this hype issue isn't that, "a lot of people like the record, so they talk about it", it's that the NY lawyer type indie industry fucks LOVE this shit, and love to talk about it, and be "in the know", blah blah blah. With Slint I believe, maybe I'm wrong, that people just really love the records, and they're really important to people. With this I think people like TALKING about the record.

I'd say this band is also incredibly "safe", which lends itself to the above.

[kerble]

I think their music is extremely derivative, but I enjoy it all the same. Talking heads, Modest Mouse, Springsteen, D. byrne, et. al. are all liberally pilfered from.

I always keep in mind that they're a bunch of kids (21-24 I think) making their first record, getting picked up by merge and touring the country because people (and it's not just critics) felt the record (regardless of hype-after the hype, if the songs are no good, it doesn't last--OKGO, anyone?).

Tell me you wouldn't love to be some 22 year old kid rocking every night. They're fucking canadian, so making fun of their fashion sense is moot. plus, seeing something on conan isn't really a good litmus test for the quality of a live band.


Anyway, even though I'm in the minority on this one according to the poll, I'll call haters for a dislike of anything outside the music.



Faiz

[shagboy]

eggzactly kerble. friend of mine used to hang out with them at mcgill. they're just university studentz, not full time scenester hipster indiequeens or something.

[gio]

plus, seeing something on conan isn't really a good litmus test for the quality of a live band.


Faiz

Agreed.

"Meh" performance. Didn't make me hate the record. Still not crap.