Led Astray

The Song Remains the Same, alas, remains the same.

Led Astray

Microphone Fiends

Sushi, the Black Eyed Peas, and parrots on bicycles. It's all in a boozy night of competitive karaoke with the New Pornographers, the polite pop savants who turn ruthless and cutthroat -- especially if you call them the other N-word.

The karaoke gods are not smiling on Carl Newman.

Interpol, 'Our Love to Admire' (Capitol)

New York's dapper devotees of doom resist a shift in style.

"Babe, it's time we gave something new a try," Paul Banks sings on "No I in Threesome," a surprisingly amorous track from Interpol's third album.

The White Stripes, 'Icky Thump' (Third Man/ Warner Bros.)

A White man is pissed and wants to show us a thing or two.

Jack White makes a lot of strange noises on the appropriately titled Icky Thump: There's an unnerving, high-pitched guitar whine that's straight out of a Tom Morello fakebook (we'll call that one "the Squawk"); a brooding, bubbling-under-the-surface organ hum (to be dubbed "the Surge"); and a discomforting, annoyingly childish yelp (actually, on further examination, t

Fields, 'Everything Last Winter' (Black Lab)

They'll cut out your heart with a delicate touch.

Not to be confused with Field Music, the Field Mice, the Field, or Korn bassist Fieldy, Fields are a British/Icelandic combo that take typically bright pop particles (male/female harmonies, quavering synth lines) and rearrange them into devastating laments.

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