Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004) : Alternative rock at its best

     Funeral is the debut studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on September 14, 2004 by Merge Records. 

    It’s surprising how rarely you get an album where you have no idea what it sounds like, a feeling exacerbated in this case by the tremendous hype beginning to form around this young Canadian band. It’s alt.rock-ish with strings and a slightly yelping singer, but where do you go from there?

Opener Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels) eases the listener in gently, first with some plucked strings, then a melodic guitar and piano line before Win Butler’s unusual vocals enter. There’s a propulsive drive to this song, which is echoed in most of the rest of the record, and a slow-burning build that leaves you pretty breathless by the end.

Arcade Fire have a sense of the grandiose about them which lifts them above the stripy-shirted emo pack they could have fallen into. However, it’s difficult to tell whether this is enough to justify Next Big Thing status. What I can tell you is that although you may be struggling to see where the hype has come from to start with, it’s worth persevering as this is one of those that reveals more with each listen.