Has anyone been able to figure out why Arcade Fire are the way they are? If so, can you tell me?

Joe Pelone tries to diagnose it in his review of The Reflektors Arcade Fire's new double album, Reflektor:

Grammy success seems to have pushed Arcade Fire to new levels. Reflektor, their first album since mega smash The Suburbs, manages to be both more and less mainstream simply by being a double album. The band's promotional campaign, in which they've renamed themselves "The Reflektors," has generally sold Reflektor as a dance album, and while that's true to an extent, there's a little more going on. Splitting the 75-minute record into two discs makes for easier digestion.

Read Joe's review here.

Then, I review A Wilhelm Scream's first LP in six years, Partycrasher:

As is expected, Partycrasher feels complete and calculated. The unpredictability and virtuosity from A Wilhelm Scream's other work remain, but those elements are layered with a palpable exuberance that seems like a byproduct of the "layoff."

Read the review here.

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