Broken Social Scene’s debut masterpiece You Forgot It In People (2002) influenced a whole range of passionate rock music strongly shaped by the 2000s. Above all, it is this feeling of »don’t give up«, an almost unreachable quality of longing, that has made Broken Social Scene’s music so special ever since. This infectious sense of »things must go on« comes above all from the fact that Broken Social Scene present themselves less as a classic band than as a large collective – teamwork is something you do together, friends are never lonely, and so on and so forth. This spirit feels hope-giving: refreshing then, no less so today.
Remember the Humans, the band’s new album, convinces. The intro to the opener »Not Around Anymore« at first recalls the music of a Nintendo game menu. Yet after only a short time, it becomes clear: familiar sonic characteristics – scratchy guitars, arrangements broken in the best sense – are being modernised and transferred into a fresh indie-pop context. What particularly stuck with me on the fourth listen was the song »Hey Amanda«, whose intensity grows with each further play. The sun comes up there. And although the lyrics remain extremely cryptic, by the end one knows exactly what kind of person this Amanda is.
