There was once a time when people would ask me what new music I had been listening to. This was because I was known among family and friends to have a knack for discovering music that they would like. I finally reached a point, though, where I stopped keeping up with new music. In the midst of a drought of decent music, I went back into the catalogs of the bands I already liked and found enough music that I no longer needed new music. And this is my excuse for being late to the parade on hearing of Arcade Fire.
I heard them mentioned by someone I know recently, then they did the crazy HTML 5 web music video with Google, then a friend mentioned how much he liked them. I thought the song in the video was not bad, so I decided to check them out. I headed to grooveshark.com and searched for them, then started picking songs from the list to listen to.
The first song I listened to was "Wake Up". It reminded me right off the bat of the band Plankeye. It wasn't a bad song, but as the song progressed, I realized I'd rather be listening to Plankeye.
The second song I chose was "No Cars Go". It was different. I appreciated their attempt to use odd instruments and samples throughout. It sort of reminded me of Jars of Clay and their use of interesting sounds and instruments. The rhythm reminded me a little of old school Sixpence None the Richer. As the song progressed, though, I realized I'd rather be listening to Jars or Sixpence.
The third song was "My Heart is an Apple". Not bad. It reminded me, though, of Death Cab for Cutie, and maybe a little Waterdeep, possibly with a dash of Blind Melon thrown in... or maybe Belly. And again, as the song progressed, I realized I'd rather be listening to Death Cab or Waterdeep.
Last up was "Rebellion (Lies)". Even though there is not a direct correlation, it reminded me of old school Peter Gabriel, and a touch of Death Cab... and maybe a heavy dose of Coldplay on the repetitive instrument loops. You guessed it... as I listened, I realized I'd rather be listening to Peter, Death Cab, or Coldplay.
So, the music isn't bad, and I do appreciate the fact that they are different from a lot of other mainstream bands, but different has been done before and by bands with more musical talent than these folks have. If the music just keeps reminding me of other bands, why not listen to those bands instead? I hope none of my Arcade Fire lovin' friends take this as a dis to them. In a world without all these other bands, I'd probably be just as stoked as they are. From what I heard, though, I'd rather spend my precious music listening minutes in the week on other music I like better.
If I am missing something, I am willing to be proven wrong. I did consider while listening to these songs that they could be the kind of band you have to listen to several times to really "get". This has happened to me a number of times throughout the past, to the point that I now consider that while going into a first listen. I can now, usually, spot that effect on the first listen and realize that if I listened a few more times it would grow on me. The second listen through these songs for this post didn't convince me of that being a probability in this case.
My final analysis... if they are on, I won't turn to something else, but if I am in a specific music mood, there are other bands that nail my specific moods much more precisely. If you like any of the bands mentioned above, though, at least listen to them.
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