Video Of (Last) Week: Arcade Fire

It's hard to say either party have outdone themselves, really, because both Arcade Fire and director Spike Jonze are responsible for some of the most beautiful and ground-breaking videos out there - one of Arcade Fire's videos, animated in a style reminiscent of both Nightmare Before Christmas and the Spawn series was even the subject of a previous Video Of The Month post, while Jonze has DVDs released of his video works, in addition to his acclaimed films such as Where The Wild Things Are and Being John Malkovich.

This time, in a setup reminiscent of M.I.A.'s Born Free but much more subtle and poignant, The Suburbs are the setting, fittingly, as the title not only of the song but also of their recent album, as we follow a group of teenagers through a day and evening of their time in their neighbourhood, which we learn through time is both police-run by day and under martial law at night, which doesn't stop some of them from being mischievous at times and others from being assaulted.

It's a terrific short film in line with our times, with the Fear and Panic that strikes in the general population, afraid of losing its basic civil liberties - ironically, a theme that seems more present now for Conservatives in the U.S. vis-à-vis the policies of Barack Obama than it was under the George W. Bush / Patriot Act / War On Terror years for Liberals.

It's a good song off a great album - but not the best one, which is a good thing. It leaves room for improvement and upgrading.