Caught in the Carousel

House of Heroes

Suburbia
Goatee Records

House of Heroes

Having grown up in a Midwestern suburb I've known for years what fertile ground it can be for artistic expression. With Arcade Fire's The Suburbs and House of Heroes' Suburbia released within days of each other, I'm clearly not the only one to make this observation.

House of Heroes, however, took the more difficult path and created a concept album: An ambitious project about what it's like to grow up alongside the entitled children of the middle class. It's about striving for acceptance in a closed world of well shod, perfectly coifed, SUV-driving seemingly-perfect-yet-ultimately-damaged neighbors. The stage is set for this story with the first track, "Relentless" and its opening lyric: "7 a.m. on Circle street/Sprinklers ring out a symphony/All the kings and pawns off to work for their perfect lawns." "Relentless" is huge; an arena rock prologue to the following 11 tracks. It almost feels like a Broadway soundtrack.

Although all of Suburbia wrestles with the simultaneous hope and angst of life in the suburbs, nowhere is that more vividly displayed than in "Love is For The Middle Class," a pop punk number about the desire for love and the underlying anxiety of "deserving" it. Another high point is the Meatloaf-esque "God Save The Foolish Kings," a song that is its own mini-opera within an album that verges on rock opera.

Midway through the album, the tone turns more reflective with "Salt In The Sea," a lovely ballad (the only one on the album) that features more organic guitar work from lead singer and guitarist Tim Skipper along with lyrics that offer a more introspective view. But after that, we're back to more hard driving rhythms and hard-edged rock. The last third of the album is punctuated by the track "Disappear," a darker, more rhythm-heavy song wherein, apparently, the suburbanites get a karmic ass-kicking: "Your vanity and strength are washed away/Like the concrete moon is washed out by day/You disappear."

This is a huge, almost grand album that deals with major themes in life and yet is ultimately spiritual. House of Heroes is a Christian rock band after all, and all of the songs have an underlying religious message. This is also part of the appeal of the album. Whether you're Christian, Muslim, Jewish or Agnostic, that spiritual questioning, the quest for guidance, love and acceptance is universal; not reserved solely for the residents of Suburbia.

—Pamela Obenchain