Broken Social Scene

Comments (0) By Sam Machkovech Wednesday, Oct 19 2005

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In 2002, Broken Social Scene didn't have much to prove. Most members of the Toronto collective were already playing in other Canadian indie bands (Stars, Metric, Do Make Say Think), and because they were a ragtag group of relative musical unknowns, their second album was likely to be as forgotten as their first. But You Forgot It in People wasn't, thanks in large part to a chance discovery and subsequent back rub by ye olde Pitchfork Media (one of the site's first such coronation moments), which quickly turned the collective-on-the-side into the main entree. Buzz and anticipation might be new to BSS on its third proper full-length, but it sure doesn't sound like the band is aware of it. The same loose aesthetic that made Forgot so dreamy hasn't been rushed or overworked on Broken Social Scene-- in fact, the group may have grown more carefree since getting so much attention. "Windsurfing Nation" is BSS at its best, with a spastic-dance breakbeat supported by crisp guitar licks, fuzzy blurs of feedback, and four different choruses chanted and sung simultaneously; the result sounds like the 11 members invented their own sections and made a party out of recording them at the same time. Quality pervades this disc, with the bedroom-singalong of "Swimmers"; the warm bath of distorted guitars, trumpet notes, and vocal "oohs" on "Handjobs for the Holidays"; the festival-ready four-guitar blasts and stuck-in-your-head chorus ("It's comin' in hard!") of "7/4 (Shoreline)"; and the 21st-century take on Neil Young of "It's All Gonna Break." If more bands had nothing to prove, then maybe everything would sound as beautiful as Broken Social Scene.