Imagine Dragons, “Radioactive”

[Note from Greg]: Imagine Dragons is a Las Vegas-based rock band whose debut LP, Night Visions, was released today via Interscope.  Previously, the band released several EPs, including Continued Silence in February 2012, which gave a taste of what would eventually wind up on the LP.  In his inaugural post on Given and Taken in Ink, here's what my good friend Aaron had to say about Continued Silence, and the single "Radioactive" in particular:

There’s a lot of potential in the EP from a band that may not know the kind of sound it’s going for yet. Listed as an Indie band by the reputable W. I. Kipedia, some of these songs tend toward pop. "On Top of the World" has a steel drum-sounding underlay with a happy-go-lucky, head-bobbing rhythm and "It's Time" sounds like Train's "Hey, Soul Sister" and Eve 6's "Here’s to the Night" had a rhythmical love-child, with a nice acoustic-y track underlying the verses before leading into a big-voiced chorus. So if you’re looking for a song that might be featured at your next prom or Kodak commercial, give it a listen.

But these are very different from a song like "Radioactive." A well-wrought urn with hints of AWOLNATION, "Radioactive" is a great anthem to an era in which the threat of nuclear exchange is deeply embedded in our relationship with Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, and China. At once political and catchy, it’s perhaps the most "Indie" of their songs that generally lean toward commercial appeal.

Here's a sample:

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