How many of the kids at the HAIM show do you think even knew who Los Campesinos! are? Very lame of the band to get a crowd of people to disrespect the band like that just hoping to get a headline.
Agreed. Very well said. HAIM is happy to do anything for a Stereogum/ Pitchfork/ etc. headline. Los Campesinos have been around far too long for this to even matter. Honestly, I wish Stereogum hadn't posted this petty, semi-desperate story.
OK EVERYONE
Arcade Fire just posted this on their Facebook:
To everyone really upset about us asking people to dress up at our shows… please relax. It's super not mandatory. It just makes for a more fun carnival when we are all in it together. So far these have been the best shows we have ever played.
See you soon.
Love,
Arcade Fire
CASE CLOSED, everyone go home.
But seriously. There it is straight from their own mouth: "It's super not mandatory" and "It just makes for a more fun carnival when we are all in it together." Do we still have a problem?
Yeah your right. This totally did just become a zone for Arcade Fire bashing. It really has less to do with what the story was actually supposed to be about.
What a great, constructive, and well thought out comment. Arcade Fire is a band of assholes because... their music has resonated beyond the original sphere of culture it came from? The experience people have at their concert is different from what you are used to? Their music tackles big subjects in a big way without apology? They are white?
I don't know why this got so many downvotes, all it goes to show is how impressively solid Arcade Fire's body of work is if Neon Bible can be their worst. I actually agree that it is, but I still love Neon Bible.
Exactly! They just want to create a fun, unique and immersive experience. If you are not comfortable with dressing up then fine, but like anything of this nature, it will only be more enjoyable if you get into the spirit of the whole thing. I certainly don't think there is anything remotely wrong with them making the request.
I like that you pointed out the tension between Brock's intellectual cynicism and to-the-core romanticism. However, I always felt like he wasn't really "a romantic that would like to be more cynical," but a profoundly even middle point between the two. I think this is one of the many reasons I love this album so much.
I had an extremely similar experience with this album, and it was awesome to read you articulate it so well. I heard the album the summer before I was off for college my first year, and I don't think I could have had a more perfect soundtrack for outgrowing my hometown while simultaneously trying to cling to the things that actually mattered, like the tight group of friends I had that was soon to be scattered across the Southeast. "We Bros" felt like it was written specifically for me and a couple of my closest buddies, but at the same time it was the most universal and true song I had heard in so long.
Also, it was ridiculous how much I related to the album on a personal level. For a while in high school, I was the kind of kid that was starting to see the bullshit of the world and getting all existential about shit or whatever. But when I started hanging out with one certain kid and we found this album, I realized I wasn't alone in feeling that way, and all you can do is live life as best you can, ignoring and denying the things that bring you down, and not to let all the outside crap that shrouds the way for truth and real happiness effect you. It is the most refreshing, ultimately positive, and life affirming album I listen to regularly.
But I could see how people may write them off as just another indie band playing guitars and churches. I sense that side of it when I listen to the album. But what makes it so rich and deeply satisfying to me is that I fully give myself to the album, and to the purpose and ideals that WU LYF represents, and, even if for just the 45 minute run time, it feels like this little band of kids could change the world just by shouting and spitting in the face of unjust world control and decrepit, outdated institutions, and so could I or anyone else.
Lonesome Crowded West is just so cohesive and well structured. Plus almost every song on that album ranges from excellent to damn-near-perfect. Brock was just writing so well. It still just narrowly beats out Moon & Antarctica, which overall is less focused lyrically but more focused atmospherically. And I guess that's where the difference lies, some people may prefer the chilly expanse of M&A, and some, including me, prefer the sharp wit and thematic focus of LCW. Can't really go wrong with either, but I like the choice to put LCW at the top.
"Nothing Better" is one of the most relatable break-up songs of all time in my opinion. I have always had the sense that a lot of the album is centered around that song, and it honestly really helped me through my worst "break-up" to date. That being said though, I have only spent about 4 years with the album, while I'm sure a lot of people have spent much more with it. But it holds a very special place for me, even though I would not put it in my top 5 or even 10 favorite albums of all time. It's just special.
It's a real travesty. They were the only band that had the audacity to believe they were the most important thing in the world, and in doing so, it kinda felt like they were. I hope they at least finally feel at home.
Definitely liking the new song. Sod in the Seed may be my favorite WHY? song ever. Mumps, etc. is gonna be awesome. Mallet percussion-centric folk-hop is the new genre to beat.
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