Kala leak shocker: M.I.A. reps Modern Lovers, Pixies

So yeah, we've been bunnyhopping jacked links all morning, hot on the trail of the recently-leaked new M.I.A. album Kala. Given that our track record on leaks this season hasn't been so hot -- sorry, Axl googlers -- we didn't want to post anything until we were absolutely, positively sure that the message boards weren't juking us and whatnot. So let's just say upfront that we had every intention of obeying our journalistic training and listening to the album at least once before typing about it. Except that when we unzipped track one, "Bamboo Banger," the first thing we hear out of Maya's mouth is "Roadrunner, roadrunner . . . with your radio on" -- in a Jonathan Richman-like baritone, no less!

Anyone who's lived within pissing distance of the Charles, or has taken the indie-kid primer in "songs to namecheck while trying to impress record-store clerks," knows this as the salient line of the Modern Lovers' seminal mixtape-leadoff banger "Roadrunner," which has also proved irresistable to at least a few YouTubing masher-uppers. So of course chairs scattered and we beat each other half to death for the honor of bringing you the news that M.I.A. is TOTALLY ON THE BOSTON PROTO PUNK STEEZ. Hipsters, the shirts are over here.

UPDATE: More chairs tipped, more staffers beating each other about the face and shoulders rushing for the keypad: We're listening to "$20," making up an office pool on the number of reviewers who will mistakenly describe this song as "New Order-ish" because of the Blue Monday-ish synth bassline. Then all the sudden Maya starts growling, "Where is my mind?" Frank Black, us: stoked.

DOWNLOAD: Modern Lovers, "Roadrunner" (mp3 over at YouAintNoPicasso)
LEAKED: the new M.I.A. album