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The Arcade Fire’s actual music can get lost in the unusual media frenzy that has surrounded the band over the past three years. On the eve of the release of their second album, Neon Bible, both The New Yorker and The New York Times ran lengthy profiles. (Not to mention the adoration that extends far and wide into almost every corner of online media.) With so much attention bestowed on an absurdly sincere and quirky outfit from Montreal signed to the Durham, North Carolina, indie label Merge, it can be difficult to listen to their records as records, and not just documents of a peculiar phenomenon.
 Rather than preach to the choir, the Arcade Fire expand their congregation on Neon Bible. Testify! |
Neon Bible, setting the hype aside, holds up under such scrutiny. It’s a departure from their first full-length album, Funeral, certainly, but only in terms of focus. Included on the debut were a couple of taut, bass-driven anthems that hinted at early ’80s mutant disco like Talking Heads and served to draw the wary into the fold. Neon Bible comes from a more secure place, just as grandiose but less eager to please. It’s more political, less personal, but every bit as good as Funeral.
Beginning with the lurching “Black Mirror,” which reflects its title in its gothic parlor-room piano and swirling strings, the album looks to classic rock for inspiration, with lyrics focused on maintaining sanity in these chaotic times. “(Antichrist Television Blues)” speaks of planes crashing into buildings two-by-two, but the strummy, slap-echo neo-rockabilly swing is pure early ’80s Springsteen, as are refrains like “You know I’m a God-fearing man.” The epic “No Cars Go” is one of the record’s few completely unhinged moments, with a climax that includes a wordless chorus, orchestra, and lead singer Win Butler chanting, “Women and children—let’s go!” with a slightly creepy messianic fervor. It’s over the top, heck yeah, but Arcade Fire is that kind of band, and they’ll continue to get away with it as long as they keep making albums this good.