An Open-Letter to Arcade Fire About Their INXS Cover and Other Stuff

Dear Arcade Fire,

Are you feeling OK? Apparently last year’s Campaign of the Absurd (with its bizarre stage costumes and awkward promotional stunts) wasn’t enough, so now you’re covering INXS during concerts in Australia.

I, for one, love an old-fashioned offbeat musical cover — like that one time indie-folk outfit Night Beds (who made my favorite LP of 2013) tackled Robyn’s transcendent dance-pop tune “Dancing on My Own” for A.V. Club. Unexpected, slightly funny, and also really freaking beautiful. 

But your cover of INXS’ “Devil Inside” just felt like another weird chapter in this weird book you’ve been writing since you started teasing Reflektor. Maybe I’m just bitter because I was pretty disappointed by that album, but I do know that half-heartedly covering ’80s new-wave hits isn’t the way to win back my heart.

I’ll stop now. I still love your music (particularly those first three albums, which rival anything else made in the 21st century), so I’m willing to deal with the glow sticks and the disco-Haitian fetishes and the costume-ball silliness until you land back on your feet.

Maybe do “Take On Me” next time — and dedicate it to me, a concerned (but loving) fan.

Eternally Yours,
Ryan