If you’re an already-established Broken Social Scene fan, Old Dead Young: B-Sides & Rarities is essential listening
Around a year ago, I wrote about why more bands should release B-side compilations, or albums that gather obscure and lesser-heard tracks in one convenient format. On this front, Broken Social Scene had already delivered once. They released Bee Hives back in 2004, which I even included in the title image of that linked article. The band must have taken a cue from my writings, because they have now released their second B-side compilation, Old Dead Young: B-Sides & Rarities.
While Bee Hives collected outtakes and extras from Broken Social Scene’s 2002 breakthrough album You Forgot it in People, Old Dead Young features tracks stretching from 2001 to 2016. It’s surprisingly cohesive despite this broader scope for two reasons: first, aside from their ambient debut album Feel Good Lost, Broken Social Scene frankly haven’t changed their (consistently high-quality) sound much. Second, all but one of the tracks on Old Dead Young are from the 2000s, when the band was receiving the most attention and was at their most prolific. Only Old Dead Young’s title track is from the 2010s, originally a bonus track for vinyl versions of the band’s 2017 album Hug of Thunder. It’s a great, lively number with a full sound only a band with up to 19 members (yes, really) like Broken Social Scene could produce, and its horn outro makes it a prime closing track.
Most of the tracks on Old Dead Young are similarly high-caliber, and you’ll wish you had heard them sooner. “Do the 95” is a rush right off the bat, with a pounding snare drum beat and a chaotic chorus where the band’s most-utilized singer, Kevin Drew, shouts “it’s time!” The 7-plus minute “Death Cock” is both the longest and the oldest song on the album, having been recorded all the way back in 2001. It’s a boozy, lounge-adjacent trip that ends in a chant of “mourir, mourir,” partially explaining the title. “Curse Your Fail” features guest vocals from Death From Above 1979’s Sebastien Grainger, but its peaceful tone is nothing like his band’s hard rock. Both the anthemic “Canada vs. America” and the mellow “All My Friends” are from 2005’s fairly well-known EP to be You and Me, meaning there’s a good chance ardent fans will recognize them, and I’m particularly glad they included the former.
There are only a few instances where Old Dead Young made me think, “yep, I see why they kept this one off studio albums.” “Far Out” is from the band’s obscure 2009 EP Lo-Fi for the Dividing Nights, a largely ambient release. It works well as an instrumental album intro here, but would otherwise not be a great fit. “Stars and Spit” is a mashup of the instrumentals from “Stars and Sons” and the vocals from “Lover’s Spit,” both from You Forgot it in People. I always find it a little cheap when compilations are stuffed with remixes, mashups, and demo takes rather than original songs, but fortunately this is the only track like this on Old Dead Young.
Seeing what the band decided to include on Old Dead Young does make me wonder why certain tracks were left off. The two tracks from EP to Be You and Me are good and all, but the standout “Major Label Debut (Fast)” apparently did not make the cut. The band allegedly relegated this track to an EP because they thought it had too much potential to become their main hit, given its radio-friendly demeanor, but I think it deserves more exposure. Additionally, Broken Social Scene released the two-part EP series Let’s Try the After in 2019, and each contained one exceptionally strong track. Volume 1’s “Remember Me Young” and Volume 2’s “Can’t Find my Heart” are both among the band’s best work, and I can only assume they’re absent because they’re relatively new. Lastly, Old Dead Young is dominated by its dudes (Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning) on vocals. A big draw to Broken Social Scene is its cast of female singers, and it was always a treat to hear Emily Haines (of Metric), Leslie Feist (better known as “Feist”), and Amy Milan (of Stars). You do hear them, albeit as background singers, and I wish they had the lead on at least one track.
Like most B-side compilations, it’s hard to imagine anyone but already-established Broken Social Scene fans seeking out Old Dead Young. Anyone wanting to get “into” the band would still be best served by You Forgot it In People or their 2005 self-titled album. It’s not the rare compilation that somehow contains their best work (see Belle and Sebastian’s Push Barman to Open Old Wounds) nor is it full of discardable filler. In fact, I think it’s more engaging all-around than Bee Hives. The songs on Old Dead Young may not be new in terms of their recording dates, but they were almost all new to me, and I’m very thankful to have heard them. After all, isn’t that what B-side compilations are all about?
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