Broken Social Scene
Feel Good Lost

Background...
I had heard the name "Broken Social Scene" and was sure that with a name like that, they could only be a metal band or a boyband (reminiscences of "Black Label Society" and "Back Street Boys"), in any case, nothing that could whet my musical appetite.

Then one day, walking along the street with the usual lineup of double-parked cars, I spotted from a distance a Golf with its driver standing outside the vehicle, having the demeanor of someone waiting for someone. The subject had the classic look of an alternative dude, the kind that just by seeing them you imagine them a bit rough, with a kebab breath, and you think they only listen to "cool-indie-Arabesque" nonsense like Panjabi Mc or, at most, the awful music we mistakenly praise in Italy, like Vasco or the Ox. I continue along the sidewalk, approaching with an air of disdainful musical superiority, wondering what rubbish was about to blare from his car radio to annoy me as I walked past him.

And yet, step by step, what reaches my ears is a really nice melody, peculiar, in fact, it’s really beautiful, almost seems like refined music... no, wait, it really is refined music, so much so that I stop and ask the alternative guy which band it is...
"Bruken sozal sin, my friend, Bruken sozal sin... ".

"FEEL GOOD LOST"
This debut album by BSS is objectively a rare gem compared to their later works. The genre change in "You Forgot It In People," their best and most well-known work, brought BSS into an Indie Pop dimension that completely detaches from the ambient atmospheres of "Feel Good Lost." At the time this album was released, the band wasn’t the over 10-member ensemble it is now, in fact, the work practically bears the signatures of only Brenden Canning and Kevin Drew who play all the instruments or almost. It’s not a perfect work, quite the opposite.
The album significantly declines in the second half, where the tracks shrink to mere fillers, but the first half is overwhelming. The bass’s progression and the sublime entry of the guitar in "I Slept with Bonhomme at the CBC", the very sad "Guilty Cubicles", the ethereal voice in "Passport Radio", the very peculiar rhythm of "Alive in 85" are small and moving gems.

It’s an album that I personally adore, one of my absolute favorites. It always moves me a lot, it touches chords that might be mine alone. A bit like what happens to me with "Belle & Sebastian"... there are days when if I don't listen to this album I feel bad. It's a real shame that the band doesn’t propose it in any live shows, almost as if to disavow it. Listen to it, it’s worth it, don’t be discouraged by the fact that almost everything written on the Internet about this album is negative.

Obviously, a heartfelt and renewed thanks to the alternative guy from the street.