My introduction to Broken Social Scene was their 2001 debut, Feel Good Lost. For years I listened to that album over and over, its dark instrumental post-rock becoming one of my favorites.
And then the band went and completely changed their sound, becoming the multi-membered indie stars they are now. Fortunately, their new sound was just as good as the first album but in a different way. They somehow managed to mix their experimental elements with a who's who of Canadian talent and power-pop to create one of the defining bands in alternative music. Because it so was hard to define their "sound," Broken Social Scene had free reign to cover a lot of musical territory at will: humongous and dramatic ballads, cheerful pop, and even horn-driven tributes to the 70's. Every song always sounded completely unique and often it was difficult to tell they were even by the same band, or to figure out who was singing the vocals on each song.
When I caught their show at Jannus Landing a few years ago, I didn't realize it wasn't even really Broken Social Scene playing. The show was in support of the Broken Social Scene presents… solo albums of Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew, with some focus on Charles Spearin's experimental The Happiness Project. It was a strange set with few hits, and absolutely nothing from Lost. My frustration was even greater because until seeing them live, I didn't realize that not every member of the band appears when they're touring. This was especially evident in the songs with female lead vocals, an artist who hadn't played a major part on any of their albums (Lisa Lobsinger) taking on all the leads on stage.
I sort-of stopped listening to them for a while. Maybe I was turned off by the show, but Broken Social Scene somehow just didn't feel relevant anymore.
Then, last year's Forgiveness Rock Record, exploded out of nowhere. It was a huge surprise to everyone, their first new material in five years instantly winning over an entirely new generation of young fans and topping the indie charts. Not only was the album full of standout hits, but for the first time since their debut, Broken Social Scene released an entire album that really sounds like a cohesive and unified band. Mainly because with this album they're focusing on only on the talents of the smaller group of touring members instead of a huge list of guest stars, this new focus also makes for a phenomenal live show.
Broken Social Scene's current set is an absolutely perfect mix of old and new. Over the course of 19 songs, they play all the standouts from Forgiveness Rock Record along with nearly every one of their major hits.
"KC Accidental" made an ideal entry song; Charles Spearin, Sam Goldberg, Andrew Whitehall and Brendan Canning forming a power line across the front of the stage for the opening instrumental. Halfway through, Kevin Drew entered to huge applause from the crowd as though the song was written for exactly that moment. The band kept the energy high, immediately following with the most danceable song on the new album, "Texico Bitches." Though I would've rather heard the song later in the set, it seemed to instantly make all the younger fans around me happy.
Throughout the evening Lisa Lobsinger wandered on and off the stage as she was needed on songs, starting with a somewhat lackluster "7/4 (Shoreline)." You'd be hard-pressed to find a better stand-in, but it's just outright impossible to replace the energy of Leslie Feist on that song. Even though Lobsinger's performance was my main complaint about their last show here, it's not her fault. It's just impossible to "fill in" for artists like Feist, Amy Millan, or Emily Haines who are stars in their own right. Tonight though, the high-point of my night was realizing the studio version of "All to All" actually features Lobsinger on lead vocals with the other ladies as background. The song was a standout on Forgiveness Rock Record and it's great to finally see her singing something which totally suits her instead of filling in for her more-famous counterparts.
The elaborately layered guitars and floating vocals of "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl" was immediately followed with what Kevin Drew described as phase three, the opening drums and clapping of the audience providing a lead in to Sam Goldberg's catchy guitar work on "World Sick." The contrast between the two songs a perfect example of how different their styles can sound.
Kevin Drew performed "Lovers Spit" almost entirely solo, sounding much more like the Leslie Feist's stripped down Bee Hives version, than the heavily orchestrated original. He was joined at the end of the song by his bandmates on harmonica, melodica, and saxophone, all softly carrying over the singing along of the crowd. Well, the part of the crowd that wasn't intensely making out everywhere around me. I will say that actually being surrounding by lover spit is not as lovely as the song makes it sound.
Broken Social Scene closed with the drawn out high-energy instrumental jam of "Meet me in the Basement," with everyone on stage playing at once; I believe even the sound guy picked up a guitar at one point. Without even leaving the stage to pause, Drew segued immediately into the encore, "well, that was the end of the show. Its up to you if you want to stick around, but we're gonna play a few more songs."
They finished out with a three song encore, including the slow bossa-nova of "Looks Just Like the Sun," and "Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)." It's a strange choice for the last song, always reminding me more of Pavement than Broken Social Scene. The band certainly enjoyed it though, Canning and Spearin playing while laying on the floor and waving their feet in the air.
Overall, that's all any of us could've wanted from the show. Everyone in the audience heard songs they loved, and the band had a great time playing them for us.
Setlist:
KC Accidental
Texico Bitches
7/4 Shoreline
Fire Eye'd Boy
Forced to Love
Stars and Sons
Cause = Time
Sweetest Kill
Art House Director
Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl
Superconnected
World Sick
Ungrateful Little Father
Lover's Spit
Frightening Lives
Meet Me in the Basement
Looks Just Like The Sun
Water in Hell
Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)
This article appears in Feb 10-16, 2011.