This week's top stories had everyone talking: Kanye West mouthed off about Thom Yorke, the White Stripes disappointed on Conan's last night at Late Night, Chris Brown and Rihanna continued to cause controversy, and SPIN's Ellen Carpenter had some eyebrow-raising ideas about how to spend the $787 billion economic stimulus -- and blink-182's Mark Hoppus had something to say about it on his

If Handsome Furs' 2007 release Plague Park was a tribute to a park in Helsinki, where thousands of victims of the plague were buried, then Face Control, out March 10 via Sub Pop, is a love letter to icy, industrious Russia -- and you can preview three of its songs below!

Dan Boeckner: You know him as co-frontman of Montreal oddballs Wolf Parade. But, like members of most Canadian indie rock bands (is it something in the Labatts?), he has a side-project: Handsome Furs. The group -- a duo with his wife Alexei Perry -- released their debut album, Plague Park, in 2007 via Sub Pop.

Dan Boeckner spent the majority of 2008 touring with his main outfit, Wolf Parade, behind this year's weird and wonderful At Mount Zoomer. But come 2009, he'll rejoin wife/co-collaborator Alexei Perry as Handsome Furs for the follow-up to their 2007 debut Plague Park.

Last night at Detroit's Pike Room, as the crowd amassed near the bar in anticipation of the night-capping set from Montreal's Handsome Furs, the husband/wife duo emerged for a couple pre-show cocktails and to greet their fans.

To quote the title of a Stooges song, this is simply not right. On the morning of Aug. 5, Iggy Pop and his cohorts awoke in Montreal, Canada to find all of their instruments and equipment -- not to mention the truck that was holding the gear -- had been stolen over the night.