#22: Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene: Broken Social Scene
I’ll be the first to admit that after 2003’s You Forgot It In People, I eagerly anticipated this record only to have it be a mild disappointment. Sure, it was full of more fuzzed-out guitars than I could possibly count, but seeing these songs live didn't drive me crazy either. "I should like this," I thought to myself, "but there's something about it I can’t quite fall in love with." It was a nice good-looking girl, but something's just wasn't quite right.

Turns out she was underage. Eventually, this album turned itself onto me, and legally. The first rocker, "Ibi Dreams of Pavement" is not their best work, and I judged a lot of the record by its not-so-subtle approach--the polar opposite of You Forgot It In People. But other driving anthems like "7/4 (Shoreline)" and "Fire Eye'd Boy" are among their best work, and I really hadn't listened to the album all the way through to reach the closer "It's All Gonna Break." Despite clocking in at almost ten minutes, that track's Replacements-meets-Dinosaur Jr. appeal leaves the album, and my opinion of BSS going forward, on a high note. As they say in the ads, some things are worth waiting for.