the sunshine underground - "commercial breakdown" (from the "commercial breakdown" single, import available for purchase here.)
the sunshine underground - "commercial breakdown" (from the my army ep, out-of-print)

in brief : "commercial breakthrough" is more like it.

the first version of the song, the remake, was released monday; the second version, the original, was released in october 2004. i almost posted this the other day until i realized what i had was the original. this is what i had to say about it :

true to form, sixteen days into the new year, and the nme has proclaimed "commercial breakdown" by the sunshine underground to be the track of the year (and its b-side to be the second best track!)

this posting, then, is in the public interest--and not necessarily to my interest, but not to my disinterest either : the bassline sounds like it's going to break into the pale saints' "sight of you," which is good, and there's a chest-thumping, throat-ripping chorus, but. for some reason, i'm not really getting into it.

now, the re-recorded version, while fundamentally the same song, is exceptional, and proof positive o what a little judicious editing can do. now, the song gets to the opening verse in half the time; the bassline has been submerged, while a jangly guitar line is pushed to the fore; the tempo is just a bit quicker; and the song ends w/ a newly-written coda. all that, plus the song is sixty-five seconds shorter. it's as if the band had allowed enough time between recordings so that they knew what the good parts were and, w/ more experience, how to best isolate them and promote them.

so, yeah, believe the nme for once.