You’re walking through an independent record store, flipping idly through some 12-inch singles, searching for the obscure artists your hipster heart desires, when — all of a sudden — you stumble across a sleeveless record, blank except for one very important band name. It’s the new single from Arcade Fire. You have just struck gold.

That’s exactly how the Montreal band has packaged the new tunes from their forthcoming LP, The Suburbs. When the first record turned up at a shop in Glasgow, the Internet exploded with buzz over the new tracks, and inevitably, the single and B-side — “Suburbs” and “Month of May,” respectively — have been leaked.

“Suburbs” is typical Arcade Fire fare: Slow, melodic piano builds over the gentle strum of acoustic guitar as frontman Win Butler spews his best imitation-Springsteen lyrics about growing up in the heartland. Meanwhile, “Month of May” offers a curiously aggressive rock sound — more befitting Queens of the Stone Age than the reserved Arcade Fire. It seems strange, but hot damn, it actually works.

Still, compared to the moments of pure brilliance on their previous recordings, the new tracks don’t quite measure up. Then again, it’s a hard task to follow two nearly perfect albums; let’s just hope The Suburbs has a few more gems in store.