Indiecast - Arcade Fire's Comeback, Plus: Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Episode Date: May 6, 2022

Throughout their nearly two-decades-long career, Arcade Fire have put out a number of revered albums. But they've also shared a few lukewarm releases. In this week's Indiecast, hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen reflect on the band's discography and decide whether or not Arcade Fire's comeback album We hits the mark (28:43).Along with reviewing Arcade Fire, Steven and Ian go over other big new in indie music this week. They discuss the relevancy of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, whose official inductees were announced this week including Dolly Parton and Judas Priest (4:33). The Yeah Yeah Yeahs also teased their return (12:50), prompting Indiecast to recall the band's impactful career and their very terrible 2013 Mosquito album cover.In this week's Recommendation Corner (52:59), Ian talks about Hatchie's album Stop Giving The World Away, which sounds like a crossover of Olivia Rodrigo and Turnover. Steven gives a shout-out to Sharon Van Etten's great new album, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong.New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 87 and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [e-mail], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Indycast is presented by Uprox's indie mixtape. Hello everyone and welcome to IndyCast. On this show, we talk about the biggest indie news of the week. We review albums and we hash out trends. In this episode, we review the new album by Arcade Fire. My name is Stephen Hayden, and I'm joined by my friend and co-host. He will be inducting Carly Simon into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ian Cohen, Ian, how are you?

I love when you come in hot with these Rock and Roll Hall of Fame jokes, because no matter like what you say about whether we're in the induction phase or the processing phase, like I'm always going to believe whatever you say about the rock and roll hall of fame is true. Like I, Carly Simon seems like the type who gets inducted every single year. Is that like a thing where, you know, it's like they have like repeat inductees? I don't think so. I mean, yeah, I know what you mean. It seems like, okay, there is a 70s soft rock singer-songwriter who you haven't thought.

about in a long time they're getting inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall fame. It does seem like there's like one person. Jim Crocey win. Yes. Well, let's not knock Jim Crocey. I don't know. I wonder if Jim Crocey's in the Rocker Roll Hall fame. I don't know.

Crocey, I got a name. That's a hot hit. Bad Bad, Leroy Brown. Time in a bottle. Okay, we are pivoted. I was expected to rep Crocee in this episode. Yeah, we're pivoting from Arcade Fire to Jim Crocee. This is a Jim Croce episode.

We, I mean, the reviews have spoken. We're off Arcade Fire. On to Jim Crocee. Let's do this. Yeah, we'll do the Crocee retrospective. I like that idea. Because apparently I need to school. Because, you know, Crocee has like about, I would say, a good half dozen jams.

And after that, I don't know his catalog that well. But he's like, that's like ultimate Dad Rock. Oh, yeah. He's like First Ballot, Dad Rock, Hall of Famer. Yeah, the inductees were announced this week. and Carly Simon was among them. You had Eminem getting in. You had Duran Duran Duran getting in.

Dolly Parton got in, even though she asked not to get in. People were just like, we have to stand for Dolly no matter what. And I'm trying to remember who else was. I'm like rapidly pulling up the list of nominees. I did this too because like I missed the, like I missed the whole thing entirely. It's like the Stanley Cup finals where if you don't look at ESPN for those. two hours, it just moves on to something else. There was that, I found out there are subcategories of the inductees. I mean, I imagine you know this, right? Yeah, so there's the core that the voters

put in, and I should mention Pat Benatar, the Erythmics, Lionel Richie, I don't remember if I said him or not. Anyway, that rounds out the inductees this year. Yeah, so there's the people that the voters vote in, and then, like, there's these other categories that I think are just awarded Musical excellence. Yes. That's how Judas Priest got. And Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Like those, what, like, was Rob Halford like a low-key, like, songwriting Maven in the 80s for metal bands the way like Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were in R&D?

He wrote the best songs that made kids want to commit suicide. I think that was, that's what he's being honored for this year. I'm happy to see Judas Priest getting in, actually. just because the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is really bad at honoring metal bands. There's so few metal bands that have made it in. Like last year, Iron Maiden was on the ballot. And that was the first year I could vote. And I voted for Iron Maiden because in terms of metal, I mean, they are like a top five most important band.

I think indisputable. Is Metallica in there yet? Metallica is in there. Black Sabbath is in there. I don't, I can't remember if Deep Purple is in. but like beyond that there's like nothing like Slayers not in you know anthrax you know all the like 80s

Megadeth's not in. Apparently between like Ozzie and Metallica a metal band can only be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame they've been televised going to therapy Yeah I think so I think that so you know Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden he needs to go in a reality show Celebrity Metal Singer Something like that I wrote a column this week

week where I got sucked into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame discourse. Because I wanted to write about how there's this weird bias with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame towards alt rock and indie rock. And this year that was manifested with Beck and Rage Against the Machine not getting in. And look, we've taken shots at Beck on this podcast. And we'll continue to do it. But, you know, reasonable people can disagree. I would argue that Beck is more significant than, say, Carly Simon or the Arithmetic.

Maybe, I don't know. Certainly, I think, Raged Against the Machine. You know, they've been on the ballot a few times now. How are they not in? Like, Tom Borrello is damn near like Dave Grohl, rock and roll ambassador status. Well, this is something I wrote about because I don't know if you saw this. Like, Vulture ran an interview earlier this week with two. unidentified Rock Hall voters.

And they did one of those like candid ballots, like would they go through all? I think I reached my article limit with Vulture, so I haven't seen it. Well, it's because they, like, Hollywood Reporter does this with the Oscars, like, when they interview Oscar voters and like, they give their honest opinion about the nominees. And it's usually, it just shows, like, how insane voters are, like, how terrible their tastes are. And neither one of these voters voted for Beck or Rage Against the Machine. One of the, but what one of them said about Ridge Against the Machine, I thought was interesting. The person said, it's too early for Ridge Against the Machine.

Their music holds up well, but there are bands that are decades older before them that have not been inducted, like Jane's Addiction and Fishbone. You've got to get them in first, and then we'll talk about rage against the machine. And I wrote about this in my column. The first Rage Against the Machine record came out a full 30 years ago at this point. Tom Morello turns 58 later this month. which means that he's been eligible to join AARP since 2014. Wow.

But he's still too young for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I just feel like this is an example of something that seems like a mindset with the voters that they're more willing at this point to induct second and third tier pop and soft rock stars from the 70s and 80s than like really important bands from the 80s and 90s that appeal to kids and young, in young people. Like, this bias still exists. It's really weird. Like, that band, that book, Our Band Could Be Your Life,

the famous Michael Azrad book about 80s indie rock. It profiles 13, you know, well-known and well-respected bands. Not one of those bands is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Just like to give you an example. And, like, in my story, I list all of the bands from, you know, alt rock bands, indie rock bands from the 80s and 90s that are not in and aren't really even being considered year to year. To me, it's the weirdest bias that the rock and roll hall of fame has.

I think there's like this misconception that like most notable or maybe all notable rock bands have already been inducted. So now we can move on to different genres. But like, there's still like a huge number of critically claimed and popular bands that aren't even considered. It's the weirdest thing about the rock and roll hall of fame to be. Yeah. Well, I mean, with Rage Against Machine, I just like when I think about like how old. this band is. I remember I had a friend in school named Lenny

who claimed that he lost his virginity to bomb track. If he had a kid then that kid would be 28 years old now. But yeah, it's funny because yeah, like I see the list of these bands that aren't in like Soundgarden, Alice and Chains and, you know,

like a lot of the bands that you're listing here like you know, Weezer or what have you, there'll probably be a time. Like what I'm hoping is that one day like you stick around long enough so that you become the cranky guy who's like, I don't want to put glass animals in there, but like, you know, you're talking about like

the longstanding influence of like, I don't know, Stone Temple Pilots or something like that. It'll happen to you, Steve. I think I'll be more open-minded than that. I really feel like when Post Malone is up for induction, I will, because I think the thing that it seems like a lot of voters don't do this is that, they are voting purely on their own preference,

and they're not taking into account the historical significance of the nominee. So maybe you're like, I really like Lano Ritchie's Can't Slow Down, and I don't like Rage Against the Machine's Evil Empire. Instead of saying, like, well, rage against the machine, they were a pivotal band and bridging the gap between hard rock and hip-hop, which is obviously a hugely important development in music in the last 30 years. I mean, the innovations of a band like that, even if you don't like them, I feel like that should be taken into account. And it doesn't seem like a lot of voters are doing that.

I think that's also true of a band like Judas Priest, where, yeah, maybe you don't like Judas Priest. But in terms of defining the sound of an entire genre, I mean, they're clearly more important than like a lot of the artists that were on this ballot. So I don't know. It's just like one of the many, many weird things about the rock and roll hall of fame. And at the end of the day, you start talking about this stuff and you feel like, oh, why am I being sucked into this discourse? Yeah. I will only lose if I get sucked into this discourse, but I can't help. It's like my coworkers who are like always like who are talking about like The Bachelorette.

It's like I can never tell like which season ends and which begins. It's just this like constant stream of me not knowing what's real and what's not. And so, yeah, good like good for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You know, one day Gavin Rossdale will be. up there, you know, acknowledging the importance of how, you know, machine head helped us make sense of the

Clinton era or whatever. See, I still feel like in 10 years. If we continue on this path, we're not going to be seeing any 90s bands getting inducted still. It's going to be like, you know, Juice Newton in the little river band getting in.

You know, like, going to get to that level. We'll start our own Alt Rock Hall of Fame, and it's going to be in like a mall parking lot. It's going to be designed to look like a Sam Goody. It's like, oh, finally, Poco got in the rock and roll. That's fucking right. Thank you. America, horse with no name, justice.

Yeah, that's where we're going to get to. Because it seems like the voters are just going deeper and deeper until like the second and third tiers of, you know, soft rock from the 70s and 80s. Pure Prairie League. When are they going to get there to do? Yeah, like Howard Jones. Let's put Howard Jones in the Rock and Roll Hall family. That's where we're going to get to before they put Seventh and Roll Hall family. I mean, that's what we're going to get to before they put Seventh.

they put Soundgarden in. It's like, well, we can't, it's too early for Soundgarden. We can't put Soundgarden in if Howard Jones isn't in first. We are giving the people what they want on this episode. I mean, like, Chris Cornell, you know, he passes away in 2017, and they still couldn't put Soundgarden in. They couldn't even put him in at that point. You feel like that, like the momentum would be there to put him in.

But they're still like, no, let's put Chicago in, you know, make sure they're in. again, it's a stupid thing to get angry about. And I'm not really angry. I look at the logic of it, and it doesn't make sense to me. It confounds me. That there's still this weird generational thing, even though, like, the bands that we're talking about are old as shit, too. Like, they're old.

Yeah. Like, I'm complaining about the replacements not being in. Like, those dudes are in their 60s. Yeah. Like, Paul Westbrook's in his 60s at this point. Like, how old does he need to be? Is he going to be 80, you know, before they finally put that band in? Anyway, we got to talk about, you know, a comeback.

Yeah, speaking of old-ass bands. Yes. And I guess comebacks are going to be a theme of this episode because Arcade Fire, their new record is a comeback record of sorts. But the yeah, yeah, yeah, is they're literally coming back in a sense. Were they actually broken up or was it just like a hiatus? Yeah, with them, it's. It's like always a bit unclear because they take a very long time between records anyway,

and they all have various pursuits, you know, Carano and Nick Zinner and, you know, the other guy who looks like Max Weinberg. I can't remember his name, Brian Chase or something like that. Post-punk Max Weinberg. Yeah, they're just around and, you know, they never were, like for most of their career, they've been like a quasi-inactive band. So it's ever been this long though. I mean,

because I think their last record was Mosquito. Yes. It was 2013. Yes. So nine years ago. Fuck, man. Which by the way, and this is when podcasts fall short because we're obviously not a visual medium here. But like I ask you, you know, as you're listening to this, Google the album cover for Mosquito.

It is one of the worst album covers. of all time. Oh, but it's so great, though, because it's not like, like, it's not like ugly, like this is a concept they didn't pull off. Like, this is like garbage pale kids. Like, they totally... I guess that's the idea. I don't know what they were going for,

but it's kind of... Well, definitely, because like the type, yeah, the type, the font or whatever for yeah, yeah, yeah, yes, it is a very garbage pale kiddie type thing. We have to describe this for people because yeah, yeah, yeah, yes. It's, like, written out in yellow letters and there's, like, green slime on it, and then

there's like a patina of like red slime around that. So that is not visually appealing. And then on the cover, there's a, what is this? Like a purple pink baby with spiky hair who's screaming with like a purple spider behind it. And is this like an umbilical cord hanging down? Probably. Is that part of the spider lens?

It's a commentary. No, wait a minute. That wasn't Trump era. I was about to say it's like probably some sort of metaphor for that. But no, that was like four years prior to that. So yeah, I can't really make heads or tails of it. But, you know what, it's just, they're like an art school band. So I imagine there was just some sort of high concept behind it.

I should look up the 2013 interviews for yeah, yeah, yeah, as they did any. I imagine 75 to 95% of them would be just about the cover. Yeah, I mean, I just wonder if they're referencing some highfalutin, artistic. Yeah, Cronenberg body horror type thing. Yeah, we're just too dumb. to recognize. I mean, maybe that's, maybe that is the case here, but like, just as without context, just looking at this cover

just makes me think, like, this cover was so bad that they had to go on hiatus for the rest of the decade. They had to hide out. Because they're like, we cannot put out another record after we had this album cover. You know, we have other projects we want to do too, but yeah, the awfulness of this cover

has forced us to go into hiding. But no, they're, they just announced that they signed a record deal with secretly Canadian. I think, I think there's still based in Indiana, secretly Canadian. Yeah. Which is kind of like an interesting combination.

You have like this Midwestern record label working with this quintessential New York band. Yeah. They probably all live in L.A. now, if we're being real. Not secretly Canadian. I'm talking about the yeah, yeah, yeah. That whole era, they all live in L.A. But, I mean... But everyone in New York lives in L.A.

Yeah, of course. L.A. It's, but yeah, when I saw that, it's like, I mean, it is like an indie label, but like also, you know, it's kind of in the secretly group that has like Phoebe and Mitzki and Japanese breakfast. That's probably better than being on a major label if like you're a guitar band these days, right? Yeah. And I mean, that's obviously those are all big stars that you mentioned. So, you know, clearly. And they have a great history too.

I mean, they put out tons of great records over the years. where are we at with yeah yeah yes at this point like i always feel like they're a little bit underrated in terms of like that new york rock scene you know we obviously talk about the strokes a lot and interpol i guess yeah yeah yeah is would be like the third band in that hierarchy and i would also say that of all the people in meet me in the bathroom karen oh by like an insurmountable margin comes off as the most likable and level-headed and funny of that group i think the yeah yeah yes or like their career trajectory is kind of similar to that of Interpol or the strokes, but if they've released like a third as many albums.

Yeah, and I would say that their quality control is pretty high, too, unlike some of those other groups. I think that their albums, like, are pretty strong across the board. I don't remember much about Mosquito. I mean, maybe that was a dud. I wrote some, like, I found this out just today that I wrote a best new tree. track review of Sacrilege? I don't remember that.

Look at you. Yeah. This is what happens when you're in the contributing editor mode and you're just writing about fucking everything. But yeah, show your bones. I'm a show your bones, truther. I think that record is really great and is kind of underrated. Or, I don't know, maybe, I think that's sort of album that's like kind of been underrated for so long. It might be a little overrated at this point, but who knows?

So according to Ian Cohen, Sacrilege shows that they've been a big pop rock band for a much longer than they were a bunch of beer-soaked art brats. I think that's true. So Sacralidge's Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, as being themselves. So apparently that was them being beer-soaked art brats on that song? I don't know. I think it's more just like, look, they're a major label rock band now, like, in the same way that people were trying to say, like, oh, you know, the strokes need to go back to the days

where they were like, I don't, they were never in a garage, but you know what I mean. Well, I think it's safe to say that we're excited to hear a new Yeah-Yaya's record. I think that could be good. Yeah, why not? Could be good. Let's get to our mailbag segment. Thank you all for writing. And we haven't done a mailbag segment in a while because I almost died from COVID.

I survived COVID. I was on my deathbed for a while. But I came back. And no, actually, I wasn't that sick. And then last week, we didn't do it because we just talked about 2002 albums the whole time. Yep. And I feel like that episode was well received, except the, there was some Flaming Lips fans out there who were not happy with us.

Yeah. So. Yeah, I could take them on. And some sea change people, too. Some of the C-change people. Oh, okay. We're not happy with us. But other than that, I think it was good.

Anyway, if you want to write us, hit us up at Indycastmailbag at gmail.com. It's always great to hear from you. And we need the content. So please give us content. Ian, do you want to read our letter this week? Yeah, this is a great question. So this is from Will and Long Island. I mean, just Will and Long Island.

That's such a great, like, sports talk radio. You know, Will and Long Island. Yeah. He wants to talk about the Mets. He's angry about the Mets. You're fucking Julius Randall, man. I can't do a Long Island accent. I'm like, I'm doing like my Philly Sports Radio accent there for some reason.

It's all the same. Yeah. All right. So Will from Long Island says, I own an operate a restaurant in a small town on Long Island because I am an Indycast enthusiast. I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you that I think a lot. lot about the playlist at my restaurant.

Thinking about music and restaurants is nothing new to me, though. I lived for many years in New York City, and my wife, then girlfriend, and I lived in the East Village for the Oates, and our regular neighborhood joint could drop a Mercedy Devil's Trap. And then move on to Nancy Sinatra flawlessly, and it was grand. On the week, it came out, they played Sleater Kinney's the woods in its entirety. So my question is, what is your ideal restaurant music, and how would you handle the playlist if you had a restaurant in the area in an area where the majority of diners

have never heard Pitfork or Indicass or either of you. I can't fathom that, frankly. I'll just answer the question where I would just play episodes of Indycast, like one after the other. That would be the only thing I would play. Will has entered the realm of science fiction here. Would you please people with current hits, stick to your guns and play Scott Walker's The Drift,

if that was your fancy? It is not, but play albums in full. So my guess is that Mr. Hyden is better suited for this request to Mr. Cohen. this is why you had me. Trust me, pal, clarity would not fly. So, yeah, he's probably not wrong. I don't know.

I think you can play goodbye Sky Harbor at the point where you kind of want to clear people out of the restaurant, just like continue to play that last 10 minutes on a loop. But, yes, so, Steve, like, you're opening your restaurant. What do you do here? Well, so I was thinking about this question, and it reminded me that while the fantasy of having my own restaurant or bar and playing music that I love

seems really good in theory, I think in practice it's actually kind of awful. Because I haven't DJed that much in my life, but on the few occasions that I have, it made me realize that when you DJ for people, you have to take into account what people want and like. And you can't just play what you want. because what you want may not appeal to them or they may not understand certain transitions or they may not recognize something

or they might be complaining and then when they don't like it, you take it personally. And I'm way too selfish and self-absorbed to want to do that. I just want to play music I like, put on my headphones, and enjoy it. And I don't really care what other people listen to. So in a way, I feel like I'm,

not in a way, I am avoiding this question because I don't really think in those terms. And I don't want to think in those terms. I mean, look, just play Motown songs or something. I mean, it seems like something everyone likes. I really, I guess I would say that, like, especially if you have a business and you want people to eat there. I mean, that is the thing first and foremost that you should be concerned about, not whether, you know, they appreciate some obscure deep cut that you're playing, you know, over the PA. So, yeah, I don't know. I guess I would just totally pander to whatever I thought my customers

liked and then, you know, listen to music I like on my own time. Yeah, I mean, if you're on Long Island, the first thing I really want to know is like, you know, are you catering to your clientele? Like, is this a small town in Long Island like where brand new is still uncanceled or you're going to play like the starting line or movie life? Well, probably just play Billy Joel. Just play straight Billy Joel. Because I assume he's huge on Long Island. Just play the stranger over and over again. I mean, like you're not totally wrong, even if he wasn't on Long Island.

Like, I'm of the opinion that, like, restaurants can only worsen the experience with music. Like, every now and again, you know, I'll, like, I'll go into a restaurant and just kind of get a giggle out of the fact that maybe they're playing, like, the indie hits of, like, 2011 to 2012. It's like, oh, cool, this is like quasi-classic rock now. Or, you know, you go to like a Philadelphia pizza shop and they're playing like straight emo revival shit like I Kill Giants. But, I mean, for me, like, I just got to address like the one thing I've like disliked about the restaurant industry more than anything else over the past 10 some odd years, which is that the ones that just lean so heavily on 90s hip hop to make some kind of point. You know, like it'll be like a steakhouse, but they'll have pictures of an old dirty bastard on the wall. Or like you go into the bagel shop and they're playing like, you know, like 93 to infinity or what have you. It's just like, I mean, it's kind of like this, the Twitter joke of like so and so like this is your personality.

You know, it's like liking 90s hip hop isn't a personality. And it's like I love this music, but I just hate being. pandered to in that winking sort of way. This also gets into like a lot of beefs I have with the last episode of Ozark, but, you know, that's not... Wow, that's from left field. True breaking that in. Ruth Langmore is not going to be listening to fucking Elmatic and enter the 36 chambers

on a loop. Please put in some like three six mafia side projects in there. I've been to that part of the country. Like, don't... I just can't stand when, like, like, writers on TV shows, like try to like enter their personality quirks into characters that are nothing at all like that.

Yeah, well, you're, yeah, Jim Croachy and Ozark. This is where this episode's going. You're hitting on something that, uh,

that I also, you know, an opinion that I'll, that I happen to share that, like when music is reduced to a signifier of taste, which I feel like it often is in these environments where it's like, we are, you know, complimenting you on your good taste by being here.

And we're playing this kind of music because we recognize that people like you and people like us who are, you know, people of taste and distinction. This is the kind of music that we like. And that is so gross to me when that happens. And not saying that Will is doing this, Will, you sound like you're just a big music fan. You want to play music. It sounds like you have enjoyed hearing great music in other places. I feel like Ian and I, instead of answering your question, we're just sort of like crapping on the idea that you should play good music in a restaurant at all.

But, yeah, again, I do think sometimes that in these environments, music is treated as like, you know, another form of furniture almost. Like we have hip furniture. We have like hip, you know, cocktails on the menu. And now we're going to be playing this music. and that's not really something that I personally, like, I'm trying to think of places that I've gone to in the past just because I thought they had great music. Yeah, I can't think of any.

Like, I cannot think of, yeah, I can't think of a restaurant I've gone to where, yeah, I can't. I like a good jukebox, which is a rarity now where it's not just touch tunes. I mean, I have gone into bars where I thought, oh, yeah, they just have an amazing, you know, selection here. and that's always cool where I feel like I can pick the soundtrack and I guess in that instance

I am forcing people to listen to what I like but they also don't know me and I'm just in the crowd and sometimes I remember there was this one bar where it was like a like a dirtbag bar in my college town and they had Scorpion's greatest hits

on there and we would play Winds of Change on repeat like we put Wins of Change in 10 times and then we would leave. Okay, I can't fuck with that. Like, it's got to be big city night, rock you like a hurricane. Like, not the fucking palli. Well, that's the point, though. Like, we put it on 10 times and then leave.

You know, like, so then people have to listen to Wins of Change 10 times in a row. So really, maybe that's my answer. Just play Wins of Change over and over again. I think that would be a good... And you could call your restaurant Wins of Change, and that could be

maybe part of the gimmick of the place. And maybe serve German food. German beers, have mulleted, bartenders, like with that leather cap on, like the lead singer of Scorpions. Well, anyway, let's get to the meat of our episode. Enough about the Scorpion. We're talking about Scorpions, Jim Crocey, and Ozark. We've given some of our most random subjects that come up, I think, in Indian Casters.

I think this does not bode well for the arcade fire discussion that we're trying to delay it to talk about these other things. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Well, let's talk about the new Arcade Fire record. It's called We. It's the sixth Arcade Fire record. It's their first album in five years. Coming after the much-belined everything now from 2017.

And this is a seven-song, 40-minute record. It's interesting because the early reviews of this album, in places like the New Yorker and StereoGum, were very positive, calling it one of the best Arcade Fire albums ever. And it seems like the reviews that have come out closer to the album release, and I'll include my review, which was on Opperox this week, as well as Rolling Stones review. Pitchfork's review, I think, just dropped right before we started recording today.

I've been a little bit more measured. My review, I wouldn't say is a pan, but it's very mixed and probably mixed to negative. And the idea with this record, which you could tell right away from the first single, which was the Lightning One, which I think is probably the best song on the record. Easily the best song. It is like not even close. When it came out, it felt like Arcade Fire's version of Beautiful Day. You know, the U2 song where U2, you know, they went through their rough period with pop in 1997 and the Popmar tour, which, you know, for a U2 tour didn't go all that well.

There were a lot of shows that were underattended, and it seemed like U2 was on the ropes in the same way Arcade Fire is now. So you two, they came back and they made a record that was, it was almost as if the 90s hadn't happened. Like, they just made a record that was very reminiscent of the Joshua Tree, our unforgettable fire, all those 80s records. And they put up Beautiful Day, which is a great song, I think. And the rest of that record, although you can't leave behind, I think is a little more mixed. I think Beautiful Day is easily the best song on that album. In the same way that Lightning One, too, I think is the best song on Wii.

but the idea is to say to people like, we know you used to like us and then we screwed up, but now we sound like the way we used to. And there was a lot of hype, I think, about this album after that single dropped. But after hearing the album, I was pretty disappointed by this album, I have to say. And, I mean, I wrote a review about it,

so I've already got my opinion out there. But from talking with you, we were DMing this week about it, I feel like you really don't like this record. So, I mean, let me gather my thoughts here. So we taught like on this, just by nature of the fact that we cover the biggest news and reviews of the week, naturally going to run into stuff that I'm not super into, stuff that, you know, like St. Vincent, for example, artists that never really connected with me or just stuff that is super popular but is clearly not geared

to my interest. So I can't recall the last time I've been as excited to discuss a album here on IndyCast because this is a feeling that I've not had in a very, very long time, which is that my first listen, I fucking hated this record. Like to the degree of the degree you can hate something only from a band that you used to love. Or it brought me back to 2004. 2005 sort of era

where you know you would read a rave review on pitch for it go spend $18 on a CD come back and like wonder like what the fuck did my like what have I just done right here because you know look Christaville's a friend of the pod but you know the stereo

gum review reminded me of that time when you would read reviews of records that you couldn't hear yet and they would be like really over the top and it would just like make you excites like oh fuck i gotta check this out like i don't care how good or bad it is i think i you know as as as much as i disagree with the content of that review i appreciate the spirit of it of going out on a limb

um but yeah like and it's the it's it's it's the comeback nature of this record that really just bugged me because so much of what are what has turned me off about arcade fire i guess since reflector is that it's so self-conscious about the way it wants to position itself, which really cuts against the things that Arcade Fire does well, which is just this super corny, earnest communal catharsis. And everything about this album from like the, we're shifting from I in the first half to we or when Butler's concerned about the end of the American Empire, like not one single bit of it registers is even remotely genuine. It just feels like manipulative, not just like the connection between the artist and the

musician, but like the entire press rollout, which people took real issue with on Reflector and everything now, it's the same thing. It's just now that it's like, hey, we apologize for that. This is the arcade fire that you know and love. And it just registers is so fucking phony to me. Yeah, I just want to be clear that I don't think that there's anything wrong with a band saying, we've experimented a little bit and it didn't really work, so we're going to return to what people know us for and what we do the best.

I think that that can be done well if you are still capable of writing great songs in that style. One album I compared the new Arcade Fire album to was imploding the Mirage, which is the Killers record that came out in time. 2020, which I think is a much better example of what Arcade Fire is trying to do on this record. You know, the killers, they went through a period where, you know, they brought some records that weren't that well received. They actually, like, lost some band members. So there's, like, only, like, there were only two, like, regular guys in that band. I think I had a band.

Flores and the guy with the beard. Yes, Ronnie. Yes. They were the only ones left. And it really looked like, oh, this band's falling apart. And they're just hanging on because they have a, you know, a profitable brand. Yeah. And then they put out this record imploding the Mirage.

And I think the thing, well, I think there's like two things that the killer's record has that this arcade fire doesn't have. One are, one is like genuinely great songs that you can put with the most famous killer singles. Like, my own soul's warning or, uh, caution. Like those two songs, I think you could put them with, uh, you know, somebody told me or, uh, Mr. Brightside or any of those songs. You could put them with them and they would fit.

Clamorous indie rock and roll. We got to mention that. Whereas like Arcade Fire, like, I don't think there's any song on this record that you would put on a mix of like 10 great Arcade Fire songs. I think you would mainly stick with the first three albums. So the songwriting, I think, isn't quite where it needs to be. The other thing, and this is, I think, almost as important, is that like on imploding the Mirage, I felt like the killers were enjoying reviving this aspect. of what they do.

Like on caution, they brought in Lindsay Buckingham to play a variation of his guitar solo from The Chain. You know, and it's like, you could just, you could almost like feel them

just being, like, geeked out by that, like when you listen to that song. And it was so fun. And there's a certain joylessness, I think, to this Arcade Fire record where it feels like

we need to do this or we're going to lose our status as an arena rock band. Yeah. You know, like this is a blatant, you know, sort of salvaging of our career type move. And I'm sure the killers felt the same when they made their record.

I'm sure they felt like we need to step up so we can salvage our careers. Well, they've always been like more honest about their commercial ambitions. Well, and again, they had fun with it. It didn't feel like an exercise in reviving a career. It felt like we're having a good time. We're having a blast. Like we're making a big sound because that's what we do and we enjoy it. And I don't get that sense from this record.

Like, in a way, this album made me appreciate everything now more. Because the thing with everything now, for all the weaknesses of that record and all of the sort of irritating aspects of the rollout of that album. And there are many irritating aspects. There's many. But you never felt like they weren't committed to it. I mean, they were all in on that album. And they weren't making a predictable arcade fire album. I mean, part of what's annoying about that album is that you felt in a way that they weren't doing what you felt like they should be doing as a fan.

You know, the flip side of that is that, well, maybe band should do that sometimes, even if they fail. Yeah. You know, you felt like they were trying to do something great on that record, and they didn't do it, but the attempt was there. I don't get that same feeling from this album. I don't, this doesn't seem like an album that was ever going to be great. to me. Yeah. I mean, yeah, they were trying to do something different on everything now.

But like between that and Reflector, it's pretty obvious what they were trying to do was like they've just been following the YouTube playbook because that, you know, was their Octung Baby, Zuropa and Pop mashed into one. But I mean, with, the line I always come back to with all that you can't believe behind is Bono, like overtly saying we're reapplying to be the biggest band in the world again. and like first off like arcade fire is not you too big i think we need to be clear about that but yeah this is like when i think about like reapplying for a job i just think about like oh god now i got i got to fucking do my linked in again write a cover letter this is exhausting and but at the same time

trying to put my best foot forward and i think the lightning does that um there's so many little easter eggs on this album that try to remind you a funeral like the first song is structured like Neighborhood 1. The second song has the drum fill similar to Neighborhood 4 power out. And, you know, the sound of this album is incredible. Don't get me wrong. I think it's a really cool sounding record.

Nigel Godrich really did a nice job with like, you know, spreading out the stereo field or whatever nerd shit you want to talk about. But the problem just comes back to when Butler, I don't think, really has anything to say about like our current state of the world. I mean like we're talking like straight up like sad, bad rhyming, high, low stuff.

And you know, there are the lines where, you know, he throws in new phone, who this, I unsubscribe. Like, to me it's not altogether. It's so bad. Yeah, it's not altogether different than, you know, everything now. He just can't really decide whether it's a hopeful album or an album that like, wants to criticize, you know, our reliance on the internet or whatever.

And, you know, all these, like, big images at the end of the empire, taking pills, falling asleep in front of the TV. I just don't think there's any sort of original thought to it. And that alone isn't, that is not a fatal flaw because, I mean, the suburbs, if you, a neon Bible, like, they didn't really say a whole lot new about the state of the union. It's just that you can tell at all points that when Butler and the rest of the band were operating from a point of like, you know, real emotions. Like they were singing about their own experience, their own life. And I think especially going from Reflector to now, it's just lost that basis in emotion because, you know, this is like everything now and maybe even this album like gets people thinking, oh my God, like was Arcade Fire always that?

corny, kind of similar to like when you hear a current Kanye album. It's like, man, was he always this bad at rapping? It's like, perhaps, but I think the emotion of funeral, like, was undeniable. I think, you know, the emotion of the suburbs was undeniable because it was based on his own real life. And now it's like, this is just them. Like, I think it's just them kind of guessing at what, like, a cathartic 2022 album should be. Well, and, I mean, with Arcade Fire, I don't think the catharsis really even comes from lyrics. I don't think it's ever done that. I think, lyrics, if anything, have, like, detracted from their music. But, like, where the power comes from, I think ultimately is their, uh, you know, their mastery of dynamics. Yes. You know, their ability

to start from a quiet place. And then you, you know, put on a big drum part. And then, of course, you have those, like, big choral vocals. And, you know, arcade fire songs at their best, they just overwhelm you. Yeah. With the dynamics of what's going on. And I think funeral obviously set the tone with that. I mean, wake up is, I think, still the definitive arcade fire song. And you could hear everything that they do in that song. And I think why the Lightning 1-2 hit with people is because it showed them still, you know, going to that same bag of tricks. You know, they could still have a song that starts quiet and then the rhythms go faster and faster and faster. And it's like being in a car that's accelerating, you know, from zero to 90 and 10 seconds. Like your heart

starts beating almost against your will. It's just a physical reaction to musical stimuli. And that's what Arcade Byer does. They manipulate you into feeling exhilarated. And at their best, you know, which I think is on those first three records, you know, they were just really good at that.

And the problem with we, you know, in addition to the terrible lyrics, is that there's like a lot of parts of this record that are just plotting. Yeah. Like the third song on the record is this nine-minute ballad that basically stays at the same pace the entire time.

Yeah, I think we gotta point out for all of their, you know, Prague rock ambition to like say that these songs are multi-part. Like many of them are like pretty much the same. And it's like, look, November rain is nine minutes long, but like three different slash guitar solos in that song, okay? Like you're getting string sections in that. They're bringing a lot to the table in November rain. They're not bringing anything to this interminable song that is like one quarter of the record.

It's like they tried to make their own version of like, say, like pure comedy or Venice bitch by Lana Del Rey. But like they, you know, they just, again, don't have a hell of a lot to say. You know, if like you want to make a nine minute song, yeah, cool. Throwing some guitar solos. Throw an ambient part. Throw some trap beats in there. I don't know. But like aside from like Win Butler again trying to unpack, you know, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the internet. Like, fuck, man. Like, yeah, just, just, just give me something, man. Like, I would rather hear him rap.

Can we just say, like, indie rock bands are not allowed to make an album about the internet for a while? Can we just, like, put a pause on that? Because I think, I think, I think we get the point. Like, we all, yeah, the internet. that's alienating and it separates people when it should be bringing them together. You know, I think we've rung that bell enough. I think it's time to find some new thematic territory.

They need to listen to more scorpions. We need more songs about big city nights and rocking like a hurricane and, you know, the falling of the Berlin Wall. I mean, when's it changed? The lyrics to that song I think are as good as anything

on this arcade fire record. I would tip my cap. Come on, let us walk, down to Gorky Park. Isn't that the first line of that song? Probably. Actually, it's whistling. I mean, if you were to do this at karaoke, it would just be two minutes of, like, parenthetical whistling.

You know, that's something we don't hear enough of these days. No, we are not going back to fucking whistling. Like, what you're technically asking for is, like, a return to whistling and a return to, like, more rustic themes, like, oh, cool. We're ready to go back to 2011. You know, there wasn't, we didn't even talk about the new Lumineers album, Steve.

Like, I can't, I can't take you seriously. Is there a new Lumineers joint? There probably, I think so. There probably is one every week. You mentioned earlier about how, and I agree with you,

that like an album like this, it can make you reassess your feelings about the old records that you love. I'm going to throw this out there. I don't know if this is like a hot take with Arcade Fire or not, but as far as those three records go, I'm going to say,

I think funeral, and I felt this at the time, this isn't like me changing my opinion, I think funeral, a little overrated, neon Bible, I think it's a little underrated at this point,

and the suburbs is their best record. I don't think that's a hot take. I mean, like, yeah, funeral, of course, is going to be, like, overrated because it was just so massive, like, it was rated to a degree that, like,

I, you just haven't seen since, for a record of that level. You know what I mean? Like any sort of record that has that kind of reception nowadays, like we just see it coming from 15 miles away. But yeah, I mean, Funeral is like, like I believe all the hype about it. It's one of my favorite records of all time and kind of low-key.

It's funny that like nowadays when I listen to it, I hear kind of an emo revival record, you know, eight guys. Oh, totally. Yeah, like bright-ey-ey-ish, modest mouse, glock and spiels. But that album is bloated too, though. I feel like every Arcade Fire record has filler to varying degrees. Because people who don't like the suburbs, they always say that it's padded, which it is. It is, but I think what I love about the suburbs is that it's the most classic rock arcade fire album.

That is true. It's padded in the same way that the wall is because, like, you have to have these songs that, like, satisfy the concept. So, like, you have songs like the trial and stuff at the end of the wall, which no one really, wants to listen to. And the suburbs is the same, where you have, like, revivals of, like, the main song and, you know, different illusions. So I can forgive that kind of padding

more than I can say forgive, like, the nine-minute ballad on Wii. Like, that is unforgivable to me. But the padding on the suburbs, I can forgive. And also because the peaks on that album are really strong. The end Bible, too,

I feel like in a way that album is backloaded. Like, I love the last four. songs on that record. Yeah. And I think, because there's like some kind of boring songs in the middle that drag that album down. And I wonder if that's why, because again, I'm basing this on my Twitter feed. So maybe this isn't like a widespread opinion, but I feel like people slag neon

Bible a little bit. And I wonder if that's why, just because like the middle part is like the worst part of that record. Yeah, I mean, I like some in the middle. Like the Well in the Lighthouse is one of my favorite arcade fire songs. Bad Vives is also a good song. I mean, the one, what's it called, like, anti-Christ blues or something like that?

Yeah, that's a wax song. I like that song. WindowSill, not great, but yeah, no cars go. Windows Cells'all is a great song. I don't know, man. That's a great song. Well, either way, like, I am a Neon Bible fan. Like, for whatever reason, I just never wore out that album,

like you think I would, like compared to the suburbs or funeral, which I both think are fantastic, even though they are both clearly kind of dumb in a way, like ready to start, dumb song. We used to wait, dumb song. And yet the music is just so propulsive that it just allows you to suppress whatever critical reflex that you might have.

But yeah, and I think Neon Bible does that too because you start to see when kind of overreaching with the lyrics and like the themes. Yeah, I mean, that title is so stupid. Yeah. Yeah. But I don't know. Like my body is a cage.

Like I go, that I think embodies my opinion towards neon Bible because like sometimes I'm like, yeah, this is this song's fucking awesome. Other times I think it's like a little ridiculous. I like that song. Yeah. I think why I like that song is someone cut a video of that song set to scenes from once upon a time in the West, the Sergio Leone movie. I don't know if you saw this.

This was like a viral video, you know, when that album came out as my song. as you could have a viral video in 2007. But I thought that was so cool. So I think I picture that video whenever I hear that song and it makes me... I remember going to see the reflector documentary and there was a Q&A afterwards and someone brought up Neon Bible and Wynn was still very mad that Pitchfork did not like my body as a cage. Like this is six years later. He just seems like the kind of guy who would hold a grudge against a bad review.

So we'll find out, I think we'll find out soon enough Far C. Fireless in the Indycast. Yeah, you know, again, I wanted to love this record. I really liked that first single, and yeah, this was a disappointment for me. You know, I was let down. I really wanted to like it,

and I think it just falls short, and I'm kind of back on the thing of, like, I feel like this band's done creatively. I don't know what else they can do. I think they had those first three albums, and that's all, you know, look, you know, that's still a lot. That's still a big accomplishment

to have three. records that mean a lot to people. And I know there's Reflector fans out there, too. So maybe you go to four albums with them and look, hell, there might be even everything now, truthers out there. Yeah, that I've got them on the radio a good amount. Like, I mean, maybe it's like, I don't know, the version of, you know, those mid-90s alt-rock albums were like this, like your indie favorite makes a sell-out major label

album and, like, you kind of forget there's stuff before it. Yeah, you know, yeah, that could be true. true, but what would this album be then? Would this be like the... I don't know. Is this the one... Usually when band stick around this long, they like make the weird, like,

oh, they tried to make a trip hop record or something like that, but I don't know. Like, I think with this one, maybe my biggest problem with this is that I too understand how there's like this desire to relive, I guess, the glory days of indie rock,

but there are so many bands, there are so many bands that are doing like what arcade fires did, but way better. It's like, I would wonder if someone who thinks this is like this, I don't know, this phenomenal return to form, like what they think

of if they heard like a gang of youth's record or if they heard like the new black country, new road, or if they heard like string machine, like these bands that are kind of touching on what the arcade fire does without the obsession of reviving the arcade

fire brand. Yeah, I mean, I think that's something that we can people with listen to we a few times but then really stick with gang of youth string machine in black country new road i think you will be much happier with that as your soundtrack or just listen to funeral again you probably haven't listened to that in a minute all right we now reach the part of our episode that we call recommendation corner where i and i talk about something that we're into this week i want you go first all right so yeah we haven't done recommendation corner in a minute so i'm going to bring uh an album that came out i believe a few weeks ago it's it's

It's an album from a artist called Hatchy. It's called Giving the World Away. I've enjoyed this artist, kind of a la carte. They'll put out a few songs every now and again. They haven't been a great album artist, but their music kind of reminds me of a lot of the songs I would hear working at the Gap in 1998. They'd be kind of, kind of dancey, but kind of shoegaze,

a little bit trip-hop. So her new album is kind of at the midsection. I swear to God, this is a positive thing of Olivia Rodriguez and like, I don't know, turnover's peripheral vision. It's just pure mall shoegaze junk food. Like I think Dan Nagro is involved in the songwriting. And I don't think this is like an album that, you know, changes the game or what have you.

But it's the, it's a kind of album that I look for and never seen the fine, which is that it's one that. if I were to review it, I would like, you know, say three and a half stars, like, or six point eight. Like, an album that has clear flaws, but nonetheless, I listened to it way more than albums that are actually great. It just makes me think of, like, if I were like 22 and, like, had a crush on somebody, what would I be listening to? And it's, like, totally this. It is corny as hell, but in a way that just hits straight to my heart.

And yeah, if you like any of the stuff I mentioned, like mall pop, shoe gaze, like late 90s, detritus of major label, trip hop buying phase, I swear to God, this is all positive. Hatchy is really scratching that itch for me. Yeah, I like this record too. It reminds me a little bit of that Bebadooby album that came out.

It was that 2020. It has a similar vibe to that, as you're saying, of like, just like really poppy variations on like cooler music. Yeah. Like, it's like a more accessible version of it. And like you said, in a way, it's more enjoyable than maybe the stuff that's more critically acclaimed. Yeah, it's not trying to be super internety. It is just like a 1998 garbage album lost in time. Garbage the band, not garbage the band.

Yeah, I was going to say like this reminds me of like, a CD I would have bought at Best Buy for 798, you know, in 2000, like, three or four. Yeah, that is the Indycast seal of approval right there. Yeah. Were you just like, I'm buying this because, like, it looks like pretty fun and it's super cheap. Yeah, I'm going to buy this in a Foreman grill and just like make my sad little hamburger as a 22 year old. So I wanted to, I'm going to shout out two albums here because we haven't done Indycast

recommendation corner in a while. I feel like we have to acknowledge the new Sharon Van Nettin record, which came out today. Normally we would have talked about it, but we just had so much to say about Arcade Fire. So I just want to make sure that I shout up the album. It's called We've been going about this all wrong. And Sharon did a sort of an unusual album cycle with this where she didn't put out any singles because she wants people to experience the album as a complete entity. So it's an interesting strategy.

I wonder if it's somehow maybe delioles. looted the buzz before the record came out. I feel like maybe people weren't talking about it quite as much as you would expect for an artist of Sharon Van Nettin's caliber. But look, she's an extremely reliable artist. Her catalog, you know, is very consistent.

I would say this album is like a little mellower than her previous record. It definitely is. Which was more of like a rock album. And that's like one of my favorite things that she's done. So like this new album, I like it. It hasn't quite grabbed me as much. as Remind Me Tomorrow, but I also feel like that was deliberate, I'm sure, on some part. It is really a return to her more contemplative introspective style.

So if that's something you were missing, Remind Me Tomorrow, I think you're really going to like this record. I also wanted to shout out an album that came out a few months ago that slipped under my radar, but I've been listening to it this week and I've been really enjoying it. It's called Don't Go Throwing Roses in My Grave. It's by Gregor Barnett of the band The Menzingers. Is this the first time we've discussed the Mensingers on any cast? Well, it's sort of like a tangential mention. We'll have to get into the Menzinger's at some point.

But the Menzinger's, of course, are a much beloved emo band. Oh, I don't know about, I don't know about emo. We're not going to get into that. We're not going to get into, like, emo. They're dudes rock, not emo. But I feel like on this solo record, he's leaning even. more into, I think, like, the Heartland Rock and Americana influences that exist in the Mensinger's that I think are a little held back, because they are essentially like an

emo or a punk band with some Heartland Rock flourishes. I feel like this solo record is more of just like a straightforward Heartland Rock record, but it has the things that are great about Menzinger's songs. There's lots of storytelling lyrics on this record. So the lyrics pull you in, great, you know, really good kind of narrative songwriting, with, like, again, like big-hearted guitar music that you would expect me to recommend. So, this album came out in February.

I think it's on epitaph records, but for whatever reason, I had not heard about it until this week. But, again, I've been really enjoying it. So definitely go check out that album, again, called Don't Go Throwing Roses in My Grave. Interesting that it's in my grave and not on my grave.

Yeah. Because I think the phrase is normally on my grave, but I guess the idea is that, you know, Gregor Barnett is being buried and people are about to throw flowers on his casket as the dirt is being put on it. And he's saying, no, don't do that. I guess that's the idea. He's being very, very fucking clear about this. Yes. It's like, once the dirt is on top of me and I'm just dead and buried, then you can throw some roses because I can't really do anything about it anyway. But don't throw it in my grave. Yes.

Maybe on my grave is okay. Yeah. That about does it for our latest episode of Indycast. Thank you for listening. We'll be back with more news and reviews and hashing out trends next week. And if you're looking for more music recommendations, sign up for the Indie Mixedape newsletter. You can go to uprocks.com backslash indie. And I recommend five albums per week and we'll send it directly to your email box.