Arcade Fire Backlash

Paste rounds up some of the reviews of the latest Arcade Fire. I loved the Washington Post review.

Chris Richards is wonderful, and if you don’t believe me, read his review of a Lumineers showfrom January. He is the king of this particular backlash, and there can be no pretenders to the throne. I mean, look at that title: “Arcade Fire’s ‘Reflektor’: Still devoid of wit, subtlety and danger, now with bongos.” So good.

Notably Harsh Excerpt: "Look, I’m sure they’re very nice people, but on their fourth album, “Reflektor,”Arcade Fire still sound like gigantic dorks with boring sex lives.

The Verdict: That was the very first sentence, and it just gets better from there. Rather than gradually pulling the gloves off, Richards barges through the door wearing brass knuckles. Ah, what the hell, let’s do one more excerpt, and we’ll leave it there. Take us home, Chris:

Butler is at his most irritating with “Normal Person,” pulling David Byrne’s oversize blazer out of the closet and asking, “Is anything as strange as a normal person? Is anyone as cruel as a normal person?”

You tell us, dude. When a band this massively popular, this risk-averse, this patently un-weird takes heartfelt shots at the “norms,” it’s hard to decide whether to laugh, barf or weep for the future of rock-and-roll itself.

My verdict? I don't know if it will be in my top 10 or not. I definitely prefer Vampire Weekend, Frightened Rabbit, Okkervil River, Tegan and Sara, Pickwick, Haim, Ha Ha Tonka, Dawes...and several others. I preferred albums 2,1, and 3, or 1,2,3....I think.