Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004)

First up in my Arcade Fire list is Funeral. Catchy title.

Mini-rant time. The first song is called "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)". There are a few other songs on this album that are listed as "neighborhoods" with another title in parentheses. There had better be a point to that. The song itself has lots of reverb like it wants to be a cheesy 80s song. It has a nice driving tempo and plenty of instrumentation, but I find the arrangement lacking. I heard lots of piano and violin tootling, and the drumming got more intense as the song went on (as did Mr. Butlers shrilliness) but it didn't feel very complex or deep. The reverb was probably added to give things an epic feeling. Annoying.

The second "neighborhood" is Laika. At least this song does contain the word neighborhood in its lyrics. That turns out to be one of the few words I can understand. The vocals are heavily distorted. I'm reminded a bit of Talking Heads by the rhythm and cadence of the vocals, but it's not nearly as interesting. Again, lots of instruments and a driving tempo, but not very complex. Also like the first song, it's pretty bleak. I hope Arcade Fire isn't one of those bands that play nothing but bleak music.

"Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettle)" is kinda neat. It would be a nice little string-backed guitar song. Unfortunately Win Butler has decided to awkwardly warble his vocals. I've decided I really don't like the way he sings. Hopefully he doesn't stick with that and develops something less whiny. "Crown of Love" opens with an out-of-tune piano part, which does not realy compliment Mr. Butler's double-tracked warbling. Looks like part of Arcade Fire's signature sound is being slightly out-of-tune. I've found that charming in a few cases, but when a band does it for every song it gets tired.

"Wake Up" got me excited by opening with a simple driving guitar riff. Maybe Arcade Fire had a harder, edgier side? No such luck. Eventually the song dove straight back into the band's reverbed stringy dreariness. After almost four minutes of lackadaisical fettering the song closes out with an odd rearrangement of "Barbara Ann". I certainly wasn't expecting that.

"Haiti" is a curious piece. If I remember correctly Haiti the country is like the Dominican Republic's repulsive cousin. Before the recent earthquake that essentially leveled the country all I ever heard about Haiti was that it was a human rights nightmare. Arcade Fire's song "Haiti" is one of the sugariest songs I've heard in my life. I couldn't understand the lyrics at all, so I guess it could be black humor or something. It's still weird.

I kinda liked "Rebellion (Lies)" but the band's obsession with parentheses is really annoying. The song at least had a key change. "In The Backseat" is a really dull attempt to close out the album with something epic and sad. They do succeed on the sad, but the epic not so much. You need more than just a string accompaniment. You need to give them something interesting to do.

I was actually surprised the album was over so quickly. I should be used to this by now, but it still surprises me how music which is critically lauded can be so ordinary. What Arcade Fire did on Funeral is take simple music and add lots of instrumentation. I'm not saying that simple music is easy to write or produce. I am saying that tons of it gets made, and that Funeral stands out as some sort of masterpiece is unfortunate.

Maybe Neon Bible will be better. 2 stars.