Broken Social Scene were formed in Toronto by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, two musicians with lesser-known, struggling bands. Recruiting various musical friends, they released the mostly instrumental Feel Good Lost in 2001. Their big breakthrough came in 2002 when You Forgot It In People gradually gathered word-of-mouth momentum and enthusiastic reviews from music critics. It's success lay in having inventive musicians focus on a hook-filled pop album, making it both interesting to music geeks and accessible to pop fans. It is now considered one of the best indie-rock records of the decade so far.
In 2005 they released their third proper studio album, imaginatively titled Broken Social Scene. Along the same lines of it's predecessor, it received more positive reviews and was widely praised. However, compared to You Forgot It In People, some felt that Broken Social Scene was over-long and self-indulgent.
In 2007, founding member Kevin Drew released an album called Spirit If... under his own name. However, it was promoted as a 'Broken Social Scene presents...' album, and involved collaborations with other members of the collective. In this way it looks like the future of Broken Social Scene will involve solo careers with Wu-Tang Clan-style brand-association, and occasional full-group reunions.
