The Beat
The Suburbs opens with a sashaying ragtime rhythm, and ends in a murky string adagio flecked with dry off-beats on snare drum. In between, the band explores the off-kilter metrics of Modern Man; the gliding, affirmative groove of City With No Children; the catch-step syncopations of Suburban Wars' clean arpeggiated guitars; and the down-tempo disco strut of Sprawl II. The default option, however, is the chugging metronomic pulse that seems to be de rigueur in indie rock.
The Sound
Thick, resonant and immersive, for the most part, built mainly from the traditional rock arsenal of guitars, drums and keyboards. The most striking departure comes in Sprawl I (Flatland), a fatalistic, quasi-classical number for strings, light nasal guitar and bass, with no drums at all.
The Neighbours
Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen have left their mark on the sounds and world-view of this album, but there are also tunes haunted by some surprising echoes. Rufus Wainwright could comfortably take a verse in the title track, there's a whiff of ABBA in the melody of Empty Room, and the bright chiming base of Half Light I sounds a lot like the Clash sample that anchored M.I.A.'s Paper Planes.