The Listomania I make the lists, you shoot them down. Quid Pro Quo.

126. Broken Social Scene – 7/4 (Shoreline)

Apologies to those of you who already know a bit about Broken Social Scene (which you should, god dammit) but this needs to involve some history for those who don't. So there were these two bearded guys making no money in the Toronto indie scene at the turn of the millenium, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. And they recorded an album that wasn't very good, but they released it anyway, and decided they wanted to play it live. When they did so, it sucked. Who wants to see two hipsters who are only marginally good on their instruments play a shitty album? So to make the live show more interesting, they started just inviting everyone they knew in the fairly vibrant Toronto scene to come play with them. And thus, Broken Social Scene was born. A supergroup, except no one knew of any of the solo artists or other bands until AFTER Broken Social Scene, well, broke. You know a couple people from that original live balloon-up. Leslie "One Two Three Four" Feist, some people from Stars, some people from Metric, a guy from Do Make Say Think, the girl from Thee Silver Mt. Zion. There are more, but really, you started not knowing these bands three examples ago.

Then as a group they put out an AMAZING album. But that's not where this song came from. "7/4 (Shoreline)" is from 2005's merely very good eponymous album. And it shows the band at the height of it's bloated, 20-member indie-chamber-orchestra power. What is that, like 15 people singing the opening lines of the song? At least two girls, including Feist, who then gets the main parts of the verses. Yeah, you recognize that voice. But listen to how much simple orchestration is lying beneath. Live, there are maybe 6 guitars playing, and that comes across in the studio version as well. There is just a lot of EVERYTHING, and it would seem like overkill and self-indulgence, but it still works because the song is damn good. Well-written, rooted in traditional song format enough to stay together but still climactic and loud and messy. "It's coming, it's coming" is my favorite part of the song. When you can feel a room full of musicians, friends, lurching forward together towards one cacophonous goal.

Then the horns come in. Like they had been hiding behind the row of guitars during the recording, an full horn section rolls in to play an entirely organic melody line that has been bubbling just beneath the surface since the opening chords. And the horns get the limelight at the end of the song, with all the singers taking a back seat. That is how friends play, they share it. And although it's not their best song or album, "7/4 Shoreline" really shows Broken Social Scene for what they have been - a giant mess of friends trying to sort themselves out live. We're lucky to get to observe the jumbled chaos.

Also. This is another act on the very short list of great bands whose entire recording careers have fallen into this decade. Someone write some comments and give me more examples of bands on that list. I'm thinking about it myself.