Paul Krugman was loyal to the Beatles and Fleetwood Mac until 2010, when he discovered Arcade Fire. He's remained loyal to Arcade Fire ever since. The New York Times' columnist and Nobel Prize winner told Chicago public radio about his love of the band last fall, and in an interview with Playboy, he elaborates:

PLAYBOY: On the other hand, just mention Arcade Fire around you and you light up.

KRUGMAN: That’s an interesting thing. There are a lot of great bands out there, which I’m busy discovering. Thank God for YouTube. The thing about Arcade Fire is the absolute lack of cynicism. Sometimes I wish I could be like that. But if I can’t, at least I can watch other people being like that...

I was pretty much listening to the golden oldies station with 1960s and 1970s music, Fleetwood Mac being about as modern as I got. And then for some reason after Arcade Fire won the Grammys, I said, “Gee, what is this?” I was shocked. Oh my God, there’s music being made now that is really good. It didn’t all go away around the time I turned 35. And so that opened me up a lot. Arcade Fire is just the one that provides the most solace. It’s gorgeous stuff.

PLAYBOY: You like Feist too.

KRUGMAN: Feist. The New Pornographers are probably technically better than Arcade Fire. But what the hell? It’s all good.

PLAYBOY: It sounds like it gives you some hope and uplift.

KRUGMAN: Yeah. And to be honest, I have a crush on the women in Arcade Fire.

Read the rest of the interview at Playboy.

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Elspeth Reeve