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Track Review: Arcade Fire "Surf City Eastern Bloc"
The b-side to Arcade Fire's latest single, "No Cars Go," has the deadly serious tone that admirers have come to expect, though it takes a few minutes to find its epic scope. It starts almost modestly, with Win Butler putting himself in the off brand shoes of an escaping Cold War victim while emoting with that quivering voice of his. "The eighties ain't been kind to anyone," he sings, which is true enough for a Czech dissident but not quite as accurate for a band whose huge second album heavily apes the decade specific sounds of President Springsteen. As this is an older song finally committed to tape, that pounding Bruce love is replaced by a graceful slow burn. At the two minute mark the drums finally kick in and a choir of voices gives the melody a more defined shape. It slowly gains steam from there, building into their signature sort of grand gesture. Even a minor track in their catalog sounds like a lesser band's defining anthem, you have to give them that.
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It's not bad, but it still strikes me as a bit heavy handed and conceptually light, like much of Neon Bible. "It's a shame about the roadblock"? Given the stakes, it doesn't sound like something that would've been likely to come out of the mouth of an on-the-lamb East Berlin-er...
Joel Michael Cusumano
... regardless, my heart just skipped a few beats.
Sara Schweizer
yeah for other bands this would be a grandiose song/acheivement
Dave Park
i'm just saying, you're in the trunk of a car running from East German secret police apparatchiks, and God knows what they'll do to you if they catch you. "It's a shame about the roadblock"? '' more like, "F%#^&%' s#$@, we are SCREWED!""We're afraid that we'll get caught or stopped" '' like, duh, bros. It's too obvious. I'll give 'em "'80s ain't been kind to anyone;" that conceit would've made for a better song.
Joel Michael Cusumano
I actually like the underplaying of it. It implies (to me anyway) that this sort of thing, which for us would be life or death, is just a part of everyday life for the ones fleeing. This coupled with the music makes it profound I think. There's a pretentious literary term for underestimation but I cant remember it and am too lazy to look it up. Great song all around
Jason
Great song by the greatest band in history. Too bad they didnt end Neon Bible with this one. It wouldnt be outa place
Kevin E
I agree with the last sentence of the review, and I hope some tracks on their next album have this kind of focused, big sound.
John