Arcade Fire’s award proves even the Grammys can get it right

In the past, we've gone all Ward Cleaver on the Grammys and been a little hard on the annual music awards gala.

But now, we're coming to their defense after they selected Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" as Album of the Year much to the chagrin of Rosie O'Donnell, Lady Gaga fans and former hair metal hussies (more on that later).

Fact is, the Grammys got it right.

In honor of Arcade Fire's upcoming stop in Vegas, here are a few reasons why the band deserved its big Grammy win:

THEY TOTALLY CHEESE OFF TAWNY KITAEN

We won't call Tawny Kitaen a train wreck, lest we offend Amtrak derailments.

She came to fame trolloping across the hoods of cars in Whitesnake videos, and since then, has mostly made the rounds on reality shows and in jail cells.

Here's what Kitaen tweeted upon Arcade Fire's Grammy win: "Ok, Im not THAT old but whos Arcade Fire? & worse, who the HELL thinks their good? Did I just lose all my followers? Cuz they sucked, sorry."

No need to apologize, dear -- well, maybe a mea culpa to the rules of grammar would be in order -- but anything that annoys Kitaen like she's annoyed civilized society for the past two decades deserves your applause.

They're Canadian

Canadians are like beer, they've been improving our lives for years now.

Think of all the kick-ass things our neighbors up North have given us: Canadian bacon, Rick Moranis, the telephone, hockey hair.

And what do they get for it all?

Mostly, we just make fun of them because of their wacky belief in universal health care and their tendency to say "Eh" all the time.

Their fine citizenry deserve some serious recognition, and Montreal's Arcade Fire scored some by joining the esteemed pantheon of fellow Grammy winners like the Baha Men, Milli Vanilli and All-4-One.

It was ab-o-o-o-t time, right?

THEY'RE AN INDEPENDENT BAND

Independent artists are pretty much ignored at the Grammys, save for such all-important categories as Best Instrumental Polka Album Packaging and Foreign Language Bluegrass Album of the Year.

That changed this go-round, though, seeing as how Arcade Fire is on Merge Records, a true indie founded by members of the band Superchunk to put out their records back in the day.

It's about time the major label oligopoly got some comeuppance.

Imagine if the Oscars followed the Grammys' lead and ignored everything that wasn't put out by one of the major studios.

This year alone, flicks like "The Kids Are All Right," "The King's Speech" and "Winter's Bone" would have been left out in the cold.

Indie entities take chances that majors often won't, and it's not always about the bottom line with them.

Money's nice.

Art's better.

THEY ACTUALLY EARNED IT

Remember that time at the office Christmas party when you were drinking Jager out of your shoe and serenading your boss's wife with an a capella version of Dangerous Toys' "Sportin' A Woody"?

That was better decision making than the Grammy masterminds have exhibited in the Album of the Year category in the past.

These were folks who chose Christopher Cross' double flusher of a debut over Pink Floyd's "The Wall"; Celine Dion's maple tree-sappy "Falling Over You" over The Fugees' "The Score"; Santana's "Supernatural" over anything, ever.

But in "The Suburbs," a stirring, dynamic record with a message, they honored what really was the best record of 2010.

Hey, even a blind chicken finds a kernel of corn every now and then, right?

And so all is forgiven with the Grammys.

At least until next year.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.