HOME
LISTS
REVIEWS
GIVEAWAYS
INTERVIEWS

7.5

After a 5 year hiatus and a significant amount of energy poured into various side/solo/other projects during the interim, Broken Social Scene’s Forgiveness Rock Record feels like getting reacquainted with an old friend who has changed slightly since you last spoke. All of the great qualities that remind you why were friends in the first place are still there, but there are some subtle differences. Or some such analogy.

Not quite as vulnerable, unstructured or unpolished as previous releases, Forgiveness is a bit of a challenge to judge. There are moments on the record that are quintessential BSS – the cymbal crashing, 6 and a half minute opener, “World Sick”, or the melodically poignant “Forced to Love” could easily find a home on the band’s acclaimed You Forgot it in People or self titled albums. The airy, electronic Lisa Lobsinger fronted “All to All” and guitar driven instrumental “Meet Me in the Basement” are also among the highlights, and showcase in a nutshell the musical spectrum that the band easily spans. But, the album is top heavy.

Co-founder Kevin Drew mentioned in an interview earlier this year that he felt as if the pressure that was on while recording 2005′s self titled album had been lifted, and the band “didn’t have anything to prove.” This may be true, but it also may have worked against them in some aspects. On previous BSS or BSS Presents releases, there were, unequivocally, no weak spots. Not even one. On Forgiveness, though, it’s fair to say that there are a few. “Sentimental X’s,” which brings together ex-members Feist, Emily Haines (Metric), and Amy Millian (Stars), is surprisingly one of them. The track seems unintentionally bare, building up to an ending that inexplicably lacks the same quality of the band’s other 5+ minute epics. “Highway Slipper Jam” and “Sweetest Kill,” among a couple of others, are also missing something.

What’s the something? Maybe it’s the vulnerability; that feeling as if the song was going to crack at any moment. Maybe it’s the spontaneity and the impression that the version on the album was a jam from practice. Maybe it’s the lifted pressure, or maybe the members of the band have been spreading themselves too thin with other projects. Maybe the new, concentrated line-up of only 6 core members isn’t enough for a Broken Social Scene record. Or, maybe 6 is still too many, and the band’s open-door policy has run its course. Maybe the album is still pretty great and it doesn’t matter that much.

Considering that Broken Social Scene and their collective of musicians are responsible for a sizable percentage of the best independent music of the past decade (much of it on the first half of this album), Forgiveness seems an appropriate title for this record. You find yourself willing to forgive the weak spots and the rare misses on account of the fact that you’ve been through so much together (old friend analogy?). Still, when Forgiveness is on, it’s really on. There are still enough strengths here to qualify the record as a 2010 favorite.

“World Sick” by Broken Social Scene