Listen to The Arcade Fire: Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Like a cross between David Byrne and David Bowie, the Arcade Fire are simply the hottest thing I have heard come out in years. They sing with so much passion, and their compositions are intricate and immediate without being musically over-technical. Additionally, their lyrics are very diverse: they sing about everything from a troubled sibling to family breakdowns to (of course) love in its myriad projections. The Arcade Fire seem to be very interested in childhood and the family, and the experience of being young and thrown into the world with all these people who may or may not really love you. It's a refreshing blast of ice cold air in a music industry choked to death with overproduced, supercompressed love ballads. Like my friend Zippy once said, "They're the eighties band that never was," but they're so much more. Fusing rythmic, cure-like guitar work with violins, xylophones, and accordions, their lack of technical flair is far more than made up for by their musical vision. They are the first group I've heard from this century that paint a compelling and heart-wrinching picture that I can see, feel, and remember.
I highly recommend their Funeral album, but get your hands on the EP as well. You can really see how much they've grown, and their vision on the EP is just amazing. This is a band that is going places - you'll want to ride along, I assure you. Can't wait to see them at ACL this year!!!
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