Arcade Fire
Neon Bible.
Score: 6.8
So, it’s been three years since anyone heard anything BIG from the Arcade Fire; I mean, sure, they released an EP and a couple singles (was there even an EP? I think there was) When we last saw our heroes, they were leading the charge of the indie bands uphill battle on breaking into the mainstream media. That, as you know, all changed when they were featured on every fucking “best of 04/05” list on the whole Goddamn planet.
I remember listening to Funeral for the first time, it’s like I had just been born, and these were the first sounds that my virgin ears absorbed, the sound was frantic, larger than life, but at the same time carried melody beautifully. When you would listen to Funeral, you felt like you had left this plane of existence, from the drum intro of “Rebellion (Lies)” to the rhythmic chanting of "Wake Up", it was just a non stop barrage of, just…fucking, noise. If you don’t get what I mean, go to your CD collection (see: iTunes) and turn it on. Don’t go on MSN, just listen to it. Soak that shit up like a sponge.
Now that I’ve successfully built up their old record, let me break down their new one for you. Let me just start off by saying that the Arcade Fire would be hard-pressed to follow up Funeral with another record that was up to Funerals standards. With Funeral they set the bar high, so high that it was on the fucking moon. What also strikes me about Neon Bible is that, it’s definitely listenable, but it feels like I’ve heard it before, some of the songs strike me as dull. Whereas in Funeral all of them were sharp. I think that’s because Funeral was the first of its kind, it’s the one that didn’t just break the mold; it fucking shattered it into one zillion tiny shards.
Judging Neon Bible up against Funeral would be unfair, to the band, to me, and to you. It isn’t a fucking anthology; these are standalone records, so I will judge accordingly.
“Black Mirror,” is a pretty low key opening, it starts off with some wind sounds or some shit, and then gets into a drum opening a little like “Rebellion (Lies)” it’s all pretty calm until about 90 seconds in, you realize that this is the Arcade Fire, and, hey, whaddya know, they are still good. Butler, whose voice has improved since Funeral (good or bad?) sings hauntingly about mirrors and bombs and other shit.
The next song that surprised me on the album was “Black Wave/ Bad Vibrations,” I found I was bored for the first minute of the song, and it never dawned on me why that was. I later realized that it was because that’s when “Black Wave” ends. The” Bad Vibrations” part of the song is truly great, and pairing it up with “Black Wave” worked wonderfully, I think it speaks as a contrast for the whole album. It’s mellow in some parts, and then it tears you in half in the other parts. It’s fucking dangerous.
The title track “Neon Bible,” is an instance where the mellow aspect of the album works like a Goddamn charm. Butler doesn’t even sing this song, it sounds like it’s just flowing out of him, like a fucking tape worm, out of his mouth and spouting this hushed, beautiful song. The instrumentals also worked perfectly, they are pretty hushed, but they truly lend themselves to his voice, making it stronger and probably the most passionate it ever gets in Neon Bible.
In “The Well and The Lighthouse,” they shift gears into more of an energetic mood, but even then, it still feels weak, the strongest part of this song is Regine (?) doing backup vocals, which she does nicely, for what it’s worth.
“No Cars Go,” is—wait, hold it, “No Cars Go”? Didn’t we already hear that one a loooong time ago? YEAH, WE DID. But this time it’s more polished, which I actually think is the downfall of this album, it’s too polished, what was great about Funeral was that it was raw, honest, and energetic. And since “No Cars Go” was put out around that time, you can still hear the, what I will call, “The Arcade Fire of Old.” There’s also some weird piccolo shit in this one, and I’m feelin’ it.
“Intervention,” is probably the standout song on the record. Its opening alone is enough to reduce a mere mortal to tears, with the ominous one note organ opening, it grabs you. The whole song is consistent, bubbling over with emotion and you actually connect with it, like most songs on Funeral, you feel like you are a part of it, I guess they must have forgotten to put a nice layer of shellac over this track because it feels like one of the only genuine ones on the album.
At their worst, The Arcade Fire are great, but when they are at their best, they are fucking unstoppable. Neon Bible, as a whole, is a much darker record than their previous one. I bet their live show won’t suffer for it, but the CD experience is, for the most part, disappointing, and if anything, it takes you farther away from the band, rather than drawing you into a sweet embrace and cupping your ass firmly, but also gently. This is what we craved in the first place. Ass cupping. Oh, and Win Butler got a haircut, how weird is that shit?
-Anonymous, February 1st, 2007.
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