FINALLY! It started yesterday afternoon around 1:30. A fan heard and recorded "Vertigo" on Croatian radio (no, I'm not kidding) and posted an mp3. The sound quality was low, and there was a DJ talking over part of the intro and the last 15 seconds at the end, but that didn't matter. For a group of hopeless fanatics who'd been listening to the Beach house clip for a month, this was the jackpot. Or so we thought, until a couple of hours later a near cd quality mp3 hit the net with no DJ talking over it.

"Vertigo" flat out rocks. It's U2's early energy and punk influences being fleshed out in 2004 mixed with everything they've learned along the way. The bridge is getting a lot of comparisons to "I Will Follow" and "Stories for Boys," but I'm hearing Achtung Baby, especially given the lyrics and vocal delivery. Lyrically, it's probably best compared to "Discotheque." The casual listener will hear a rocking party song, but Pope Bono is really singing the recurring themes of temptation and salvation. The best scoop on the lyrics comes from Beth at the U2 Sermons blog.

Oh, you wanted to hear it? Download this!

Update: I'm speechless -- Pitchfork likes it.