The way it sounds...Sound Off!

Like I said before, I've been out of touch, musically, for awhile, and I'm just now coming back into the relevant and moist in recent months. It has not, however, escaped my notice that there has been a ridiculous "20 year lag" thing going on for the past...20 years? It used to be a 30 year lag. At some point in the '80s, the mid to late 50's sounds were hitting, with the Stray Cats and even Huey Lewis' somewhat neutered greaser image getting traction. Of course, the early '90s saw the renaissance of the late '60s, which morphed quickly into the mainstream '70s music, to the point where there were dedicated Disco clubs doing great business by 1998. Have a Nice Day Cafe in Charlotte, NC was one such nostalgia-soaked joint, where they served expensive cheap beer and played the same 50 songs every night to a packed house. Fast forward to about two years ago, when I noticed the young knuckleheads wearing their Polo shirts with that collar ERECT, and new bands on the scene that recreated the look and sound of those, um, classic acts? You remember...the skinny ties, bangs, mousse and makeup coming correct over unapologetic synth fanfares, straightforward drumming and embarrassingly sincere, asexual vocals. Yes, the '80s arrived. Interpol, the Killers, Franz Ferdinand. I avoided the sound for awhile, using my lifelong distrust of anything new-old-fangled. But soon, as always, I began to search for the element of this sound that moved other people so.

Now I do like some music that is firmly embedded in the '80s. I've always respected early U2, even though I was never a superfan. The Tragically Hip are an amazing live act that draw heavily from the creative palette of that time period. At the same time, I hated the '80s sound when I was in the middle of it. This was the soundtrack of my generation, and I felt supremely ripped off. A generation earlier had the music of Hendrix and Zeppelin. Our older brothers had the shameless abandon of the arena rock bands. We got hair metal, sweaty leather punk, clunky early rap, the Thompson Twins, and Madonna. None of this sounded cool to me at the time. It was all just embarrassing. So I found my way to classic rock, explored there for awhile, and waited out the '80s.

So what does a guy like me do when he realizes that two of his top albums from the past two years are from bands that are strongly influenced by the 80's? Simple.

Showdown. Only one survives.

First up:
Apologies to the Queen Mary Wolf Parade

Wolf Parade didn't immediately strike me as being terribly influenced by the '80s, because the influences are such a part of the new creation. It initially sounds like a bold foray into harder indie rock, but the truth comes out in Dan Boeckner's vocals and Spencer Krug's keyboard explorations. The tunes themselves are anything but straightforward (with the possible exception of the Boeckner-led "Modern World"), often containing disjointed arrangements and obtuse lyrics. "I'll build a house inside of you, I'll go in through the mouth, I'll draw three fingers on your heart." Boeckner and Krug split the frontman duties up about 50/50, and their songs often feel like very different beasts. Krug also heads other projects like Sunset Rubdown and Frog Eyes, and his songs have a trademark feel of mania and desperation. Highlights from the Krug contributions include "You are a Runner and I am my Father's Son", "Fancy Claps", and "I'll believe in Anything". Having seen Sunset Rubdown once (at the Blind Pig), I can attest that he's a great live performer, although you'll either love or hate his voice. While Boeckner's voice is like the drone of a chainsaw, Krug doesn't sing so much as he emotes. The band is solid and tight, and the album feels road-tested.

Neon Bible by The Arcade Fire

Neon Bible is a concept album that explores the evolution of the American psyche of the past 7 years. The tone is generally pessimistic and presents a story arc of discovering faith in a post-9/11 world, and eventually finding that faith to be self-limiting, empty and hopeless. The band secured the use of this huge organ at a cathedral in Canada somewhere, which provides this awesome reverb and thunder to a lot of the tracks. The band is solid, with a great sense of drama, and the lead vocalist is classic '80s. He uses a few of Gordon Downie's (Tragically Hip) techniques of getting a lot out of the weaker parts of his range, and he does really well in the midrange, where he hits a bit of a Bruce Springsteen tremble. The song "Keep the Car Running" sounds a lot like "On the Dark Side" from the Eddie and the Cruisers soundtrack, which sounds very Bruce-like, as well. The songs get darker and darker until the sunbeams bursting through in "No Cars Go", which is both my favorite track and the most unabashedly '80s-sounding track. I can't tell if the song is pointing a way out of the "prison" of faith, or if it's "Opposite Day!" and they're presenting a sarcastic message of false hope. Then comes the quiet revelation in the closing track, "My Body is a Cage": "My body is a cage that keeps me from dancing with the one I love, but my mind holds the key. Standing next to me...my mind holds the key...". It's an extremely well-conceived, well-executed, and well-produced album, and will certainly be a go-to for the forseeable future.

Both of these bands from North of the border are legendary live acts these days. I'd love to catch either of them in a club, although Arcade Fire is now doing arenas with LCD Soundsystem. Hopefully there'll be a chance of a club tour at some point, as I'm not so into stadium shows anymore. I'm old.

So, if I had to declare a winner, and I do, I will err on the side of Zestyness and select Apologies to the Queen Mary by Wolf Parade. Sorry, guys at Arcade Fire who are currently raking in tons of cash and admiration. I will now destroy my copy of Neon Bible.