Broken Social Scene bringing its unique vision to Michigan Theater concert
photo courtesy Press Here
Until this past May, it had been five years since the last album by Broken Social Scene. Ordinarily, that would seem like a lifetime in the record biz, especially for a relatively young band.
But in the intervening years, solo albums by two of their key members — Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning — were presented as “Broken Social Scene Presents” productions.
So, in that respect, it’s just as though the Social Scene — who come to the Michigan Theater on Friday — have been on the scene right along. (The date was originally scheduled for April, but illness forced a last-minute cancellation.)
The Canadian group is an expansive collective, and its May release, “Forgiveness Rock Record,” like its previous discs, is densely populated, in terms of the number of full-time / part-time / former band members who pitch in.
Indeed, over the years, the band has been well known for its revolving-door lineup. Band members would come and go, and the Social Scene incarnation that ambled onto the stage one month was likely to be different than the one that showed up a month or two later.
These days, the core band consists of singer-guitarist Drew, singer-bassist Canning, singer Lisa Lobsinger, drummer Justin Peroff, guitarist Charles Spearin, singer-guitarist Andrew Whiteman, and relatively new member Sam Goldberg — also a guitarist. This is definitely a band that likes layers of guitar textures / interplay.
“Forgiveness” also includes contributions from the likes of The Sea and Cake’s Sam Prekop, Tortoise’s Doug McCombs, Poi Dog Pondering’s Susan Volez, and The Weakerthans’ Jason Tait, among others.
The group has always had an affinity for tapping into a wide range of sub-genres, and using equally varied instrumentation — resulting in a sonic pastiche that’s often been hard to define, but one that clearly struck a chord: Social Scene won a few Juno Awards, scored films like “Half Nelson” and showed up on many of the late-night talk shows.
The new album’s songs were written and arranged by the core members, and “Forgiveness” is probably the group’s most melody-driven and most focused disc to date, due in part to the discipline imposed on the process by producer John McEntire of Tortoise. The record was produced in Chicago, McEntire's home base, making it the first Social Scene album recorded outside of the Toronto.
McEntire is a musical hero for many of the band’s members, and they liked the fresh perspective he brought — one that helped inspire the members to write 40 songs before paring the choices down to the 14 that are on the album.
Even with a more disciplined approach, however, the group has retained its affection for soaring anthems (like the opening track, “World Sick”), dense textures, non-linear lyrics and rhythms that can sometimes shift from punchy to amorphous. “Forced to Love” rides a romping beat, while “Sweetest Kill” is wispy and introspective. In “Chase Scene,” dissonant, strings contribute to the song’s jittery, almost manic state, but at the other end of the spectrum is the airy, swingy, retro-futuristic vibe of “Art House Director.”
But Spearin says that, at one point, back in ’06, the band’s core members weren’t sure the group would even make another album.
“Yeah, I think we were fed up with the process at the time,” he told Interview Magazine. “Everyone needed to go in their own direction, make a decision, and have their own time.”
But after everyone had been off on their own, working on other projects for a few years, there was a concern that it might be difficult to bring everyone back to the ranch to make the new album.
PREVIEW
- Who: Canadian indie rock band / collective known for its revolving-door lineup.
- What: Eclectic mix of big anthems, electronic beats, layered guitars, shifting rhythms and occasional strings and horn sounds.
- Where: Michigan Theater, 603 East Liberty Street.
- When: 7:30 p.m. Friday.
- How much: $24, $27. Tickets available at Ticketmaster.com and the Michigan Union Ticket Office. To charge by phone, call 734-763-8587.
“It gets harder and harder to ask the guys, because they’re so busy and doing so well on their own,” Drew told Interview.
Also ramping up the happy factor for the group was adding guitarist Goldberg as a full-time member. “On this .record, Sam brings such a melodic sound,” Drew told Pitchfork.com. “We call him ‘Stadium Sam.’ He’s our stadium rock guy.
“I love the self-titled (’05) record to death, but it was difficult to make,” Drew continued. “But that point is so over for us. I don’t think we’ve ever really entered this territory of just feeling amazing about everything like it is right now.”
Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. he can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.
Broken Social Scene performing live in Taipei this summer: