Arcade Fire Break Out Of The Suburbs

There are bands you know are out there and are appreciated by many but still somehow never catch your attention. For me Arcade Fire is one of those bands. Although receiving lots of praise for their previous albums and live performances I somehow never really gave them my full attention. But with the exposure and raving reviews their new album 'The Suburbs' get they are hard to ignore.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
The album opener with the same title immediately sets the tone for the entire album. It's a catchy indie pop/rock song with a prominent piano part that will get stuck in your head in a pleasant way. The album is full with these tracks. There isn't a weak track on it and probably every song that will make it as a single will turn into an Arcade Fire classic.

That's the power of the whole album: it gets better every time you hear it. Of course I listened to their previous albums again and both had their weaker moments. They have grown into skilled lyricists and are clearly telling a story. This time about living in the suburbs with all its boredom and wasted time that goes with it. But in the end:

If I could have it back
All the time that we wasted
I'd only waste it again

The band unmistakably has taken it to the next level and has almost crafted their song writing skills to perfection. They got a bit too eager because maybe 16 songs is just a bit too much. But they sure got my attention now.
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GoBackToTheZOO Launch Benny Blisto In Style

Not many bands have had this much exposure even before putting out an album. But after releasing a few successful singles and having their song 'Beam Me Up' in a Nike commercial this really set off the career of this band from Amsterdam. So it was time for an album and a proper release party.

GoBackToTheZOO release party at Westerunie Amsterdam, August 10 2010 (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Westerunie is a great setting for a band like this. An old factory building that still breaths its industrial past but at the same time is an inspiring location to party. By the time the band took the stage it was a full house and the temperature had risen.

They kicked off with a few of their singles proving that they are capable of writing great catchy hit songs. Singer Cas Hieltjes isn't a brilliant vocalist but his voice is distinctive and he looks comfortable as a front man. The band is eager and is playing with lots of energy. They could use a bit more dynamics in their live performance. Now everything seems to go full force all the time. Later on when they have more songs to play this could make their songs sound alike too much. But they certainly are ready to take their album 'Benny Blisto' out there and blow the roof off every club and festival they are playing.


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Monster Magnet Doesn't Scare Anyone Anymore

Big sound with powerful guitar riffs, cool rockers with long hair that live the rock 'n roll life to the fullest. That's what I see thinking of Monster Magnet. So when I won tickets for this gig in the Melkweg (thanks to KindaMuzik.net) I was looking forward to a night of power rock that would blow me off my socks.

Monster Magnet at Melkweg Amsterdam, August 9 2010 (Ronald Says 5 out of 10)

First up were Karma To Burn that had already started when we arrived at the venue. This stoner rock band from the late 90s picked up where they left in 2002 around a year ago. They played great riffs and pounding drums mostly without vocals. I liked it but more songs with vocals would make it even better.



Next up was the big headliner Monster Magnet. And they sure got bigger literally with singer Dave Wyndorf putting up around 50 extra pounds. Unfortunately his performance also wore down and he didn't sound or look anything close to the rock god of the old days. Instead it looked painfully embarrassing to see the chubby front man struggle through their set. They played a few songs of their upcoming album 'Mastermind' and those sounded less powerful than their older songs. Even the big hits seemed to have lost their power although I still like 'Space Lord' a lot. Although the band sounded pretty good it was all looking pretty uninspired and obligatory. 20 years of rock 'n roll finally got to them I'm afraid.
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