August 22, 2020
Arcade Fire: The Opposite of Nostalgia
This is a band whose exception on Musical Chairs up until this point might come as a surprise, given the obvious inclusion of early 2000s indie rock from all three of us. Any list of bands that includes My Morning Jacket, Death Cab for Cutie, Band of Horses, Modest Mouse, Interpol, and The Strokes must also include The Arcade Fire, right? This wasn’t my artist pick, but I think they may have been chosen more out of necessity than genuine appreciation and love of an entire discography. Maybe they were just due. But that’s debatable.
Never have I considered Arcade Fire a favorite band, and as such, I have the opinion that the level of notoriety the band gained from its two 2000s releases may have carried on too long. So, does that mean I think they are overrated? Yes, but its relative. By no means am I saying they are no good, or that Funeral and Neon Bible don’t merit respect in the indie world. I am saying that it has been thirteen years since their three years of excellence, and by the levels of clout they seem to hold (Rolling Stone asked if they could be the world’s biggest band in 2014), you would expect they had continued on that stellar track for three more albums. I am saying I would expect Funeral and Neon Bible to have been just the beginning of a long line of masterpieces. Or at least a short line? Unfortunately, the mastery stopped there. What they released following Neon Bible has rendered them a 2000s band.
“I’m not exactly overwhelmed with nostalgia when
I hear “Neighborhood #3,” got me?”
Arcade Fire is a band I started listening to after their industry-defining formative years. I’m not going to claim that I started listening when Funeral came out, nor am I going to say I heard Neon Bible anytime near its release. I have loved Band of Horses since their “Funeral,” but somehow Arcade Fire was outside my bubble until 2009. I honestly have no idea how that is possible, given the quantity of music I was listening to at the time, their position as a decade standout, and the effect of the first two albums on the indie music landscape.
This has been my perspective up until today. The goal here, as always, is to wipe the slate clean of those judgments and listen anew. I’m confident I’ve been able to do that so far. Out of respect for the person who picks the band (John, in this case), that person’s music taste, and the pursuit to appreciate something about all music, I manage. But what follows makes it more difficult.
I was involuntarily introduced to them by someone I used to know. Voluntary listening is an extremely impactful part of music discovery, and involuntary introduction can have a similar and adverse effect. When you’re introduced to a band by a friend or significant other, and then you end your relationship with that person, those memories can thwart any chance a band has on making an impact with you for a long time. I’m not exactly overwhelmed with nostalgia when I hear “Neighborhood #3,” got me?
That’s a long-winded way of saying that I somehow do not remember ever listening to this band prior to 2009, but when the time came it wasn’t me putting the CD in, and it wasn’t me choosing to listen to them after my relationship ended with that person. That’s just how it goes sometimes. This is just one of countless bands about which I developed an opinion, or decided to avoid, because of a certain person or group of people. As I matured, I realized that’s a terrible reason to deprive myself of something, and I decided I am better off creating my own new memories by just putting it all aside and listening on my own.
What a massive disclaimer that was. This band seems to be viewed as a member of the post-2000 indie elite, so I feel like some explanation is needed for my overall apathy toward them. I’m admittedly a little ashamed that I don’t have some kind of opinion of the band, but the above explanation is all I can offer.
This will be by far my most engaged listen to Arcade Fire and I predict that I will probably learn to appreciate them more. There’s a lot of upside, because I may be able to name only 5-10 songs I know well, but I have a feeling they have a lot more to offer. But I can’t say I expect anything resembling mastery to come from anything after 2007.
Arcade Fire is a fine band, but as I said I originally heard them without sincere engagement or volition. So, one more embarrassing admission: the first time I remember hearing this band is when “Wake Up” played on the official trailer for Where the Wild Things Are, a disappointing movie based on a book I never read. I wasn’t overwhelmed with nostalgia when I was dragged to that movie either. -BH