Broken Social Scene You Forgot It In People Arts & Crafts, 2002 amazon

This is a review i've been meaning to write for a long time. Somehow, the scope of this work kept scaring me off. There are traces of everything on this album ... straight ahead indie rock aggression, smoky 1940's jazz trumpet, electronica flourishes, you name it. I first heard of the Canadian collective Broken Social Scene through a mailing list recommendation of 2002's You Forgot It In People. That person suggested the the rolling, almost frolicking "Pacific Theme" as one of the highlights of the record, so i began with that. It's an impressive building instrumental piece, featuring a pastiche of horns and guitar riffs from folky to almost surf-like, building to a crescendo of emotion before dying away as only the masterfully corny Casio drum beat continues. A brilliant piece of music in and of itself, but the album is seemingly chock full of such compositions, each worthy of lengthy praise. The first four songs proceed with nary a misstep, from the ambient mood-setter "Capture the Flag" to the explosive improvisation on the repeated indie rock riff of "KC Accidental" to the hand claps and gentle pop somberness of "Stars and Sons" to the fast-forward speed and rock of "Almost Crimes". An explosive noise underlies many BSS songs, belying the more passive overt moods of the songs. It's as if at any moment the song may erupt into a wall of feedback and vehemence. Sadder, passive songs exist as well (i SAID these guys do everything), such as the banjo- and string-driven build of "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl" and "Lover's Spit" and its ambient electronic noise and piano. "I'm Still Your Fag" employs a folky arpeggiated acoustic guitar to achieve its mood. The album closes with a recap of "Anthems" entitled "Pitter Patter Goes My Heart", recreating the former's resonance by focusing on its orchestrated, string-based elements. If i had to complain, the one negative of the album is its reliance on somewhat shocking, sexually explicit lyrics in songs like "Cause=Time" ("we all want to fuck the cocks"). But it's a minor gripe, and i've never been one to dote for too long on lyrics. You Forgot It In People is the turning point for indie rock, a call to arms to move beyond reliance on macho guitar rock and merge aggression and reflection.

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