The Suburbs

There are eight different cover artworks for the CD verison (randomly selected)! "In my dreams we're still screaming / We're still screaming / We're still screaming." Yup, music fans all over the world are squealing with delight now that their dreams have finally been answered: a new Arcade Fire album. The Suburbs follows up Neon Bible from 2007 and the album that started it all back in those halcyon days of '04, Funeral. Expect this to be near the top of everyone's year end lists (hell, I'm sure it is already before anyone hears a note), and now that so-called "indie" bands are selling "tons" of records, it should make a sizeable dent in the mainstream as well. Written, arranged, performed and produced by the Arcade Fire and co-produced by Markus Dravs, The Suburbs was recorded around Montreal and New York over the past two years.

'Arcade Fire, you had us at "parking lot" - never has an expanse of cement held so much weight as when a band succeeds at capturing what its existence actually means. Really getting into these songs is going to take more time, but this band's ability to tap into suburban angst is pretty amazing. Like seeing American Beauty before the whole floating plastic bag thing became a total parody of itself. And then there's "Month of May," which is so minimal and harsh that you wonder just why a band like this needs that many members. All that talk of suburbs is mostly gone (except, you know, when Win Butler can't help but reference them again - write what you know), replaced with more rough edged guitar and drums that can barely keep up. The two tracks are night and day, which makes for a great pairing. Get sad with "The Suburbs" and then get mad in the same way you get mad when walking behind someone real slow on the street while listening to "Month of May."' - Sam Hockley-Smith / The Fader