In 12 short months ARCADE FIRE have gone from
being Montreal’s best unknown band to a worldwide phenomenon. Mark Robertson speaks to them to try and decipher their appeal.
usicians always have the potential to
be swines. ()ne album (sometimes
even just one single) is all it takes to turn a humble. aspiring muso into a precious. precocious. arrogant. over-inflated swine.
With what has happened to Arcade Fire over the last year. they have all the potential to be assholes. Despite no promotional splash from their modest indie label. their debut album Funeral has shifted almost 500.000 copies
98 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 25) Aug—8 Sop .9005)
worldwide and they‘ve been hanging with their
musical heroes and placed on every stadium
liller‘s support act wish list — they close the year
as support to [12 on their (‘anadian stadium dates. They even made the cover of Tina- magazine. Well. ()K. it was actually the Canadian edition. but that's still something. Somehow. for a band that are still less than three years old. they have remained grounded. Multi—instrumentalist Richard Reed Parry is one
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sixth of the band. liar from being cocky. he suggests they knew they were onto a good thing. ‘We were really pleased with how the album turned out and we had an idea that it‘ people got to hear it they would really like it. And they did. To be honest. it has been a bit ol‘ whirlwind.‘ Amid the current fashion for uncovering the bones of punk's new wave and tying them up into a rattling hollow clang ol‘ a song. Arcade Fire have an altogether more human approach to songs. Win Butler and his wife Regine (‘hassagne are at the heart of the sextet who make music that does that familiar—but- unl'amiliar twist. be it with Butler’s yelping. l‘olky intones driven by violins and drums pounding out a Studio 54-l'riendly beat or rasping rhythm guitars tempered by a chorus of xylophone plinks. But it‘s more than just the instrumentation: the songs swing and sway like they're dressed up in too-high heels. teetering on the edge ol‘ a breathless collapse but managing just to stay upright. The Flaming Lips come to mind. as does lilliott Smith in an odd way. and even Bjork at her most showy. partly because ot’ (‘hassagne‘s otherworldly vocal style.