CD Review

Broken Social Scene is like a Jackson Pollock painting. At first, you can only ask yourself, "what the fuck is this?" It's not until you really take a step back that it begins to make a little more sense. Layers upon layers need to be examined, and you can't grasp the entire concept until later, when all of those elements are taken as a collective whole. In the case of BSS's selt-titled album, singer/guitarist Kevin Drew has said that in some places, there are 118 tracks alongside the 17 members and plethora of instruments and sounds of foggy horns, cluttered beats, sampled loops and choral chants.

Where their last record, 2003’s You Forgot It In People is becoming the Sgt. Peppers of the indie genre, Broken Social Scene, with their limitless genre stretching, jazzy inklings and free-form recording approach, proves to be their own jamband. "Ibi Dreams of Pavement" is drenched in Sonic Youth which collides head on with "7/4 Shoreline," driven with a sticky beat and Emily Haine’s (Metric) seductive vocals. The cleverly titled "Handjobs for the Holidays" is dream pop in a static wave of bass, while "Windsurfing Nation" toys with whispering vocal tracks. "Hotel" messes with an Amnesiac twisted beat and fainted lyrics, until the grand finale of "It’s all Gonna Break" decorates with more horns, whistles and whatever other instruments the collective forgot to include.

It's a lot to digest and you certainly have to earn your musical rewards with these 14 tracks. But they've up'd the ante for indie rockers and such ambitious arrangers as Kanye West. Once this collage reveals its true self, don’t forget your headphones to fully absorb the seven-song EP bonus disc.