Charlemagne "Greyhound" (16.1 MB) from Detour Allure Live at WORT Block Party Madison, WI May 21, 2006 PODCAST EXCLUSIVE!

So, the weirdest thing about Charlemagne right now is that Detour Allure got a 7.0 from Pitchfork and the local media went insane. Apparently they saw a brief surge in record sales after the review came out, which led to all sorts of breathless stories about the power of Pitchfork as an opinion-leader and how the band was now on their way, etc., many of which spun off of the now legendary folktales of the Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

Look, the record's good and Charlemagne is one of Madison's most promising pop bands right now, but a Pitchfork 7.0 is not that big a deal. As far as I can tell from their interviews and live show, they're not taking the bait, which is nice. Ultimately, Pitchfork is what it is, but the band seems to know what they need to do take advantage of it.