Arcade Fire won the Best Album Grammy Award the other night for ‘The Suburbs’.
Only in the fusty timewarp world of the Grammys could this be regarded as an “upset” – the brilliance of ‘The Suburbs’ has surely been trumpeted by every magazine, newspaper, and website in Christendom – but it turns out vast swathes of America have never heard of the Canadian indie-rockers.
In the Best Album category Arcade Fire were up against Eminem, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Lady Antebellum. The second the result was announced, many of the fans of those acts voiced their outrage and bafflement via Twitter and Facebook.
Highlights of this collective redneck headscratching include:
“What the heck is a r k fire?”
“Never heard of Arcade Fire. Don’t do hippy shit.”
“What is an Arcade Fire and why are people excited for it?”
And best of all:
“Who are The Suburbs?”
Loads more of these have been collected by the excellent blog Who Is Arcade Fire. It’s a fascinating window into the astonishingly closed-minded world of mainstream America.
Poor old Arcade Fire. They’re just too anonymous. Perhaps they should have turned up to the awards inside a giant egg..?