Broken Social Scene- 'Broken Social Scene' (City Slang) Released 23/01/06

Already garnering more than their fair share of hype and column space, the Broken Social Scene are another in a long line of bands that have been exported from lands far, far, far away (well, Canada to be precise) only to be unleashed upon the Indie brethren amidst a media storm like no other. This strategy usually guarantees a sold out tour, top 20 gracing single, and an album that will feature in many an end of year poll… Surely things shouldn’t be this easy? But that’s not really the point is it, who cares how you got HERE, just as long as you got HERE… and boy, are Broken Social Scene HERE!

Taking the acid guitar freak-outs that made the Flaming Lips so exciting in the 90’s, adding those middle-eight  build ups that seem to go on forever (using every instrument and the kitchen sink in the process like a Spector impersonator drenched in his own LSD) like, well, Mercury Rev during the 90’s, and the driving ‘dream-made-drone’ collages of Sonic Youth being beaten within an inch of it‘s life by Beat Happening… Yet it’s all meticulously pieced together, with roughly hewn edges like Malkmus himself somehow had a hand in it. It’s a glorious mess that takes repeated listens to get to the heart of it.

The album works as a continuous, ever-evolving soundscape. As the guitars gently hum and the bass screeches, melodies gently gather up in little dips and puddles along the way, awaiting a great techni-coloured sun to roll over the sky and beam down a blinding light to resurrect the careful literacy of their art into something that is often overwhelming, and never dull… A multi-coloured patch work that demands repeated listening and should soundtrack many a persons summer.