Forgiveness Rock Record

For many Broken Social Scene's 2005 self titled third album was the musical equivalent of Marmite and many reviewers seem to either love it or hated it. It does have some great songs not least "7/4 Shoreline" and "Ibi Dreams of Pavement" but sometimes even on those you felt that the sheer number of musicians in the band almost consumed and devoured all available musical space on the record. On times it all turned into a rather messy and confused cacophony. It contrasted greatly with the sure footedness found on their second album "You Forgot it in People" one of the best albums of the past decade and a clear shot across the bows to there great Canadian rivals the Arcade Fire.

What then about "Forgiveness Rock Record". The first point to make is that it is a long album packed with musical ideas some of which work so well you sense it is there best work thus far. Alternatively other parts leave you praying to the god of musical editing that one day someone may honestly tell the frontmen Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew that size doesn't matter and less is more. As a result there are a couple of gripes to get out of the way. "Texaco bitches" for instance is a song that David Bryne would have discarded from rehearsals for Talking Heads 77. "Highway slipper jam" starts off like someone is about to sing "daylight come and me want to go home" and goes into a fairly dull and plodding acoustic song with whistling. I'm not certain about the instrumental "Meet me in the Basement" although it could be a grower, alternatively "Water is Hell" is at best a bonus track and could have been happily left of an album that clocks in over 64 minutes.

But enough of the grumps. The bulk of this album is scintillating stuff. The opener "Work Sick" is a 6 minute plus panoramic rock opener and possibility one of the best songs they have ever recorded. The lyrics also point to some of the much rumoured tensions within this musical collective when the opening verse declares

"We got a minefield of crippled affection
All for the borrowed mirror connection
That's why I'm leaving this spoken detention
I'm a romance addict so that I can confess that"

Its excellent stuff as is the wonderful "All in All" a bubbling piece of rolling electronica song beautifully by the excellently named Lisa Lobsinger, a potential rival to Leslie Fiest (well probably not). The beautifully paced slow ballad "The Sweetest Kill" sees the band proving that is has considerably upped its song writing abilities and is an aching highlight. It is followed by the synths and echo laden guitar of "Romance to the Grave" and has the BSS quality which we all love, namely a song which carries you with driving mystery and sheer pop verve. Other songs worth checking out are the spiky but hook laden "Forced to love", the 6 minute plus "Ungrateful little father" which has a Prince like quality to it and finally "Art House Director" is all breezy horns and sax and could well be the direction that the band might wish to explore in more depth in the future.

Broken Social Scene spawn great musicians like they are going out of fashion, which is both a strength and weakness. The sheer size and scale of various inputs are however (almost) properly controlled on "Forgiveness" and the danger of blowing ear drums dramatically diminished. Credit must go to John McEntire for his tighter production values throughout which despite some weaknesses sees this 4th album a much more consistent record than its predecessor and packed full of great songs. Can we therefore provide these Montreal minstrels with the "forgiveness" they seek? The answer is of course we can.

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I first heard of Broken Social Scene when their second album Broken Social Scene came out. I won it in a 6music competition. And it was one of the most eclectic records I think I ever heard. I filed it away (loving some of it deeply and just not getting other parts of it) and forgot about it. Until I was in a record shop recently and saw the new CD. And I bought it on a whim. Simply put I should buy more CD's on a whim

Forgiveness Rock Record does something which very few CD's do these days. It divides opinion. Everyone seems to disagree on their favourite track. Some loving (for instance) Texico Bitches whilst others claiming it the weakest track on the album - I love it by the way. But every track seems to grow on you.

The opener, World Sick, is an upbeat tongue in cheek number that kicks off the album with a bang. And this is pretty consistently kept up in quality terms until track 4 - Forced To Love. Guitars crash, Vocal harmonies swoop in for the chorus and we hear the first real masterpiece of the album. Check Youtube out for the Letterman version.

Don't worry the swishing air like vocals are also still there, whilst never quite reaching 7/4 (Shoreline) heights tracks like All To All really do work well. Ungrateful Little Father, with its sweary chorus, really seems to lodge in brain for a long while after listening to it. Its just a quirky memorable track. And what would seem throwaway in other peoples hands seems expertly put together here. Not to say that every track is a gem. the close, Me and My Hand, is just a little too poor. Water In Hell is eerily reminiscent of Pavement. But in a good way, although its starting to grate. And horns can be overused on occasion - Art House Director sounds like The Zutons if they were any good.

This is an album which delivers something new on every listen. And makes you wish they were a bit more prolific.

Broken Social scene have always been one of the world's most interesting bands. Every album is worth buying but this is their most complete work yet. From the opening blast of World Sick every song is a gem. Other highlights include Texaco Bitches, All to All, Ungrateful Little Father.
Best of all is the majesty of Sweetest Kill. It inhabits the same ethereal plane as Lover's Spit did and is likely to be fan favourite for years to come. Can't wait to hear this all live later this month.