Arcade Fire
It's hard to maintain a romantic relationship. To do so within the confines of a Rock group is damn near impossible. There's no shortage of couples whose love life has bit the dust in a band. Yet lovers continue to tempt fate.
Win Butler heard Regine Chassange sing Jazz standards at an art exhibition at Montreal's Concordia University. He liked what he heard, and saw. Soon Win and Regine were a couple (they later married). From this pairing Arcade Fire came into being with Butler (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric 12-string guitar, piano, synthesizer, bass guitar), Chassagne (vocals, accordion, recorder, piano, synthesizer, xylophone, drums, percussion), Howard Bilerman (guitar, drums), Richard Reed Parry (accordion, piano, organ, synthesizer, xylophone, double bass, percussion) and Win's kid brother William (synthesizer, xylophone, bass instrument, percussion).
An interesting and not totally irrelevant piece of trivia concerning the Butler brothers is that they are the grandsons of Swing-era ('40s-'50s) bandleader/songwriter Alvino Rey. Obviously, musical talent runs in the family.
Arcade Fire's self-titled EP came out in '03. A little over a year later the group's full-length debut "Funeral" arrived.
Named after cult author John Kennedy Toole's first novel, "Neon Bible," Arcade Fire's sophomore album was released in March, '07.
The '80s are alive and well, thank you. The Cure, Roxy Music, Elvis Costello and Talking Heads, though successful, were never immensely popular but their influence continues to surface. On "Funeral," Arcade Fire, riding the cerebral yet anxious Wave ethos, combines airy, ethereal guitars with quaking vocals. A lilting accordion or synthesizer laces it all together.
Every now and then, Bruce Springsteen goes acoustic. It allows him to tell intimate stories celebrating the struggles and little victories that make life, even on the downside of the American dream, worthwhile. He tries for a revival meeting but usually comes up with a street corner serenade. Maybe, when he's in his troubadour mood, Springsteen should front Arcade Fire. A din of acoustic instruments echo as Butler's vocals comes dangerously close to channeling The Boss, both sonically and lyrically. There's the Rockabilly influenced "Keep The Car Running" and the big churchy organ on "Intervention." The sense of uplift is undeniable. Maybe it's the Canadian influence.