The DT3 – Our Top New Albums for August 4

Each week the Digital Trends staff selects three albums that we think you should know about. Not in-depth reviews, just passing on some music we like.

Want to suggest a band or album? Email us here: dt3@digitaltrends.com or leave a comment below.

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

The album was released with eight different covers. Which one did you get?

Top Tracks: Ready To Start, The Suburbs, Month of May

Biography: Arcade Fire is an orchestral indie rock band which formed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2003. The band consists of Win Butler (vocals, guitar, piano), Régine Chassagne (vocals, accordion, keyboards, hurdy gurdy, drums), Richard Reed Parry (bass, guitar), William Butler (keyboards, guitar), Tim Kingsbury (bass), Sarah Neufeld (violin), and Jeremy Gara (drums). Howard Bilerman, who played drums on the album Funeral, has since moved on to other projects. Montreal percussionist Dane Mills performed on the EP and in early live shows. As of May 2005, the touring band includes horn player Pietro Amato (who is in Bell Orchestre and Torngat) and violinist Owen Pallett. Pallett has also opened for their shows, appearing as the one-man band Final Fantasy. – Source: Last FM

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band – Where The Messengers Meet

The sophomore album from this Seattle band.

Top Tracks: Leaving Trails, Gone Again, At Night

Biography: Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band (MSHVB) is a troupe of lively young spirits, and the breathtaking pace of their 11-song debut never falters. Tracks like “Cheer for Fate” and “Masquerade” whirl swinging bass lines, wailing guitar, and twitchy percussion. Lead singer Benjamin Verdoes is a sharp and deliberate lyricist, particularly on the whimsically imagistic “Going On a Hunt” (“I’m going to spear the mighty giant squid / I’ll steal its ink / To write you letters”) and the Coleridge-referencing “Albatross, Albatross, Albatross,” an epic storm of a song that opens with thudding synthesizer as Verdoes snaps, “Who’s that fool around your neck?” Verdoes’s wife, keyboardist Traci Eggleston, complements his throaty, intent, and emotive voice with sweet harmonies. (His brother, MSHVB drummer Marshall Verdoes, was all of 13 years old when this album was recorded.) The standout “En Fuego,” a perfectly devilish song at once trembling and audacious, finds Verdoes confessing, “Just want to send those shivers back down your spine.” It’s a daunting yet fitting metaphor for the music on this album – so bold and vital, it positively glitters. – Source: Erin K. Thompson (Amazon)

Squeeze-Spot the Difference

Once dubbed “The New Lennon and McCartney”, the duo release 14 of their classic tracks.

Top Tracks: Loving You Tonight, Good Bye Girl, Black Coffee in Bed

Biography: It’s 1973 in South London. Teenage friends Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook form the band that will see them dubbed ‘The New Lennon and McCartney’. Over 35 years later, with their legacy intact and as vital as it has ever been, Squeeze are still touring and reminding fans worldwide just why they have left such an indelible impression on the UK’s music scene…Squeeze’s contribution to music has been noted in 2010 with the site of their first gig being awarded a prestigious PRS For Music Heritage Plaque, which has so far commemorated the debuts of Blur and Dire Straits. It joins an ever-increasing list of Squeeze accolades alongside their recent Ivor Novello for Outstanding Contribution to British Music and their Nordoff-Robbins Icon Award. Chris Difford’s lyrics and Glenn Tilbrook’s music have survived everything over the years, from the ever-changing musical landscape to their own internal reshuffles and acrimonious breakups – but Squeeze is here to stay, still going strong and still loving every moment. – Source: Squeezeoffical.com