The Suburbs (Deluxe Version)

iTunes Review

While pop music has always held the city as the perfect place to lose oneself and reinvent your life, the real truth of the matter is that most rockers hail originally from the suburbs and it’s the hissing of those summer lawns that have shaped them as much as their imaginations. Brothers Win and William Butler pay tribute to their suburban Houston childhood with this immediate-classic album that paces itself to be a perfect concept album, even if listeners agree whether it’s a tribute to the suburbs or an excoriation. The Deluxe Version of the album includes two bonus cuts, the jamboree- inducing “Culture War” and the natural duet with Talking Head David Byrne for “Speaking In Tongues,” and several video features. The Spike Jonze-directed “Scenes from the Suburbs” suggests the group is not so amused by their upbringing. (Perhaps we now have our answer.) The joy of the album is still intact. “Ready to Start” kicks up a fury with a decadent lushness. “Empty Room” is pure urgency with a beat that threatens to pop out of its seat. The original ending, “The Suburbs (Continued),” remains a bittersweet farewell. A landmark album.