Canadian collective Broken Social Scene have been receiving rave reviews for their eponymous titled third LP, and on listening to this you can understand why. It has the slow burn of Arcade Fire coupled with a vague sense of REM's old style indie strum. It's like a Murmur outtake beaten into shape by Blondie after a night on the tiles.
I guess that mainstream radio stations are still afraid to play singles that run for longer than about four minutes. I think that playlist compilers are still scared by the memory of the cocaine encrusted turd that was D'You Know What I Mean? by Oasis. The fear seems to be that anything over the four minute mark is the work of a ego run riot.
It's a real shame with Broken Social Scene. The edit of 7/4 (Shoreline) shaves off about a minute and half, which is not that long but still robs the song of its build and a passage of guitar thrashing relief. It's like taking a photo of St Marks Square in Venice and leaving out the basilica. Yes, it's still beautiful in parts but lacking the glory of the whole scene. So if you've heard this on the radio and wonder what the fuss is about please go out and buy the single so you can hear it in its original form. If you like what you hear and have a spare £10, go treat yourself to the LP, as this is just one of many highlights.
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