was the new Killers single. I wasn't alone. The other guy I was working with said "Didn't we just hear this song ten minutes ago?"

Considering the first time I heard the Killers song, I thought it was the Arcade Fire, that's pretty ridiculous.


Also, I hate radio.

You're insane.

I might take a beating for this, but are they only well liked in Canada? I have never heard them on college radio here and they never seem to got press in the states. It seems like they are some Canuck phenomenon that we never bought into.
When I used to go to Model UN conventions in Toronto, the Canadiens were always raving about them, I never quite got into listening to them.

No beating will be necessary in this case. I would wager that most of the Hip's fan are 90% based in Canada, and the other 10% consists of the border states near ON. Their official live album Live Between Us was actually recorded in Michigan. However, I'd also suspect that most of those fans piled on over from ON as well. A lot of their music is fairly Canadian, especially in lyrical content, so that probably doesn't translate as well. I honestly don't understand why, although plenty would simply adjudicate this argument by saying they're shitty, and that's their perogative and frankly their loss as well. They've released 10 albums since '87, and all of them have some truly great rock and roll within them. However, that being said, I'm totally fucking incapable of being truly objective with this band. I love all their stuff, even the weaker shit, I can still appreciate. They're probably my favourite band.

Stylus wrote a nice piece examining the hows and whys of the Hip's popularity in Canada, and why it didn't happen in the US, I recommend it if you're actually interested in the band, here. And cokemachineglow also wrote about the band here in their review of the Hip's greatest hits set.

for my money, day for night is the best canadian album in at least the last twenty five years. as for that new single, i was actually quite surprised after hearing it on the radio to find out it was them. it was so different that i figured it was either gord downie solo material or a side project.

So that's, what, the best Canadian album since 1981? What was the groundbreaker in '81 to knock Day For Night off it's perch - Aldo Nova?

Anyway, fuck that. I've always considered the Hip to be a Canadian version of REM, and by that I mean they're middle-of-the-road successful with an artsy fartsy lead singer intoning notebook poetry over a pleasantly skewed version of classic rock. The difference is that Stipe can nail a hook, whereas Gord Downie bleats like an agitated goat.

Best in the last 25 years? Not even close.

Overly harsh, in my opinion, but be that as it may, I'd agree with the statement that Day for Night is in no way the finest CDN album of the last 25 yrs. Personally it's my least favourite from their entire output. 'Grace, Too' rocks live, but on record is meandering, and I could cheerfully never hear 'Nautical Disaster' again. Other than that, there's a few decent songs on it, but man, if I want to hear the Hip, I never grab that album. However, 'Scared' is easily one of my favourite Hip slow tunes. And I'd take Downie over Stipe any day, though.

I don't know a single person in real life who doesn't love the Hip. Irregardless of their usual taste in music. Punk fans, rock fans, indie fans, classic rock fans -- they all enjoy their music and give them their respect.

I can't think of anyone else really like that.

A few tracks from "Fully Completely" got a decent amount of airplay around Chicago when that album was released, but I can't speak for the rest of the country. I may have heard one other single from a later album get played at 2 AM or something like that.

Now, this...you get a beating for

Yeah, thanks I forgot to mention this.