I cannot wait to go back to the Midwest for Lollapalooza this summer. All you pop fans get Lady Gaga as headliner, pop punk gets Green Day, but who am I excited for? To see Arcade Fire perform their new material live, of course! (Oh, and a little band called Soundgarden.) Arcade Fire basically changed the way music was written in terms of what exactly defines pop and what types of arrangements there can be for multiple-persons bands such as themselves. Sure, there are large Canadian bands emerging every day (among those, I also adore Broken Social Scene and Stars) but Arcade Fire was really the first band to set the bar for me when they came out with Funeral.
They’ve recently released their single, “The Suburbs” with “Month of May” as a B-side. To be honest, I’m a little disappointed with what I’ve heard. I understand they need to explore some more but “The Suburbs” is shockingly bright when they were well-known for swelling, melodramatic pop arrangements that have a dark melancholic element to them. “Month of May” has Win Butler singing about how he’s going to make a record in the month of May several times. It’s usually a bad sign when musicians write songs about writing songs, BUT I have faith. Why? Because they are Arcade Fire. That is all I need to hang on and hope for the full-length release.
If you haven’t checked the singles out yet, they’re just after the jump for you to make your own opinions. I’ve also included a recording of the band doing a pretty rad cover of Talking Heads’ “Naive Melody.”
Mp3: Arcade Fire – Naive Melody (Talking Heads cover)
WILD TONIC 
Arcade Fire in the Midwest, sounds like fun! They’re such a good band. Gotta see them live one day.