Saturday, December 12, 2009

Arcade Fire

I'm going to postpone the second part of Plan 36G because I need to rant. I know I'm about 4 or 5 years late hearing Arcade Fire, but everyone in college thinks they're amazing so I downloaded Funeral. It sucks.
If I had no expectations before listening to it, maybe I would've liked it, but this is many people's favorite band. People have told me that they cried when they heard the album. Yes, actually cried.
Now, I understand that to fully "get them" I need to see them live. But no matter how much energy and gusto they put into their live shows, it won't change that their songs aren't catchy or difficult to play and their lyrics aren't even remotely deep or unique. I wouldn't be so annoyed if the band wasn't such a big deal, but I've heard too many people claim Funeral is their favorite album to let it slide as just a difference of opinion.
In terms of lyrics, they've shamelessly copied Conor Oberst to the point where I actually heard lyrics from his songs almost word for word. Unfortunately, they didn't even pick good parts. How about this gem - "I went out into the night / I went out to find some light" Really? I'm pretty sure going out into the night won't provide you with any light. Ohhh, you're trying to be ironic. I get it, saying something that doesn't make sense is so edgy. Granted, I'm sure they're going for some pseudo intellectual theme about rejecting standard truth (light) and forging their own path (dark) but that's such a painfully overused preteen philosophy I wouldn't be surprised if Hannah Montana's sung about it at some point.
Anyway, if you live under a rock like me and haven't listened to them, I'd crawl under your rock again. It's nicer there anyway. If you have listened to them and like them, I'd love to hear why because I just don't get it. On a related note, giving me free tickets to one of their concerts also works.

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