Broken Social Scene -Broken Social Scene

Tue 18th Oct, 2005 in Music Reviews

Broken Social Scene materialised in 1999 when Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, formerly of By Divine Right, bonded their friendship into a band. They spent the next few years honing an atmospheric rock sound in their native Toronto and the rest (as they say) is history. Feel Good Lost marked their debut album in 2001 and introduced a revolving cast of Canadian indie musicians. Four years later Broken Social Scene’s self titled third output is a blend of meandering Californian sunshine pop, that contains input from some of Canada’s indie elite, including members of Stars, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Metric, Treble Charger, A Silver Mt. Zion, and Mascott, just to name a few. The album is so densely layered that if it were rolled up into a ball and smashed onto the ground it would reveal a Kaleidoscopic maze of ethereal acoustic rhythm patterns and chaotic techno teetering that’s swallowed up and sneezed out all in the right places.

Opener, Our Faces Split The Coast In Half  is Parsley sounds skipping on the beach with the Flaming Lips, a gorgeous acoustic number rapped in melancholy bleakness, with a  tenderness that bounces along with palpitated bursts of energy. Elsewhere the songs take on a more upbeat tempo, like the Pixies inspired 7/4 (shoreline) with it’s wistful yet optimistic harmonies that are complimented by the beautiful horn section at the end.  But just when you think there is going to be some continuity, the album retreats back to its ghostly foundations with  Major Label Debut.

Fire Eyed Boy would probably have the most favouring as a single (behind Superconected), with it’s indie disco beat, that drags along a clunky rhythm section, while Swimmers would most closely resemble something Sonic Youth would do. It’s almost impossible to comprehend how much effort has gone into this ambitious project, with so many influences squeezed into an hours worth of an album (anything from Dinosaur Jr. and Pavement, to Fela Kuti and PIL) it’s almost too much to take in at one time. I was lost in a sea of reverberated acoustics and hypnotic bleeps that I could never pay full attention to strange and often inaudible vocals. Songs like Hotel, incorporated low-fi hip hop beats with erratic mumblings vocals, while Superconected, the haunting single, is a  psychedelic pop gem. Equally manic, but a lot more down tempo, bandwhich has by far the most interesting backing vocals on the album, and shuffles along lazily at its own pace until it has it has the band members asking “for one more” as if this great opus needs a grand exit to finish off with. It was on the final song It’s All Going To Break that some sort of normalcy was established. At ten minutes, this song is a summary of the entire album, taking full advantage of the vast amount of styles, that builds to a massive crescendo of epic proportions which allowed me enough time to pick up the remaining pieces of my mind and gather some normal pattern of thinking. 

For all it’s ambitiousness and originality, Broken Social Scene does feel a bit overbearing at times. The constant tempo changes are at times frustrating and unsettling to sit through, however it that same versatility that makes it such an enjoyable album, which is probably why it has recently garnered album of the week in various publications and broadcasters. This is the album that will no doubt give Broken Social Scene the mainstream exposure that they deserve. I have a feeling we will be hearing a lot more about them in the not too distant future.