Artistic progression has a tried and true formula: radical invention breeds hyperbolic dissension, which eventually gives way to mainstream appreciation that filters out into boredom. Electronic music is increasingly humming its way into the mainstream, but purists still worry it will be the end of true music artistry, that technology is stripping it of its humanism.

Enter Crystal Castles, a duo of electronic trailblazers with the amazing ability to render electronic instruments as emotionally compelling as a hand-strung mandolin. Nowhere is that more obvious than in their latest single to drop, "Plague."

There's something borderline apocalyptic about "Plague," with its high pitched muffled shouting over a relentless, suspenseful synth lick. The distorted voices sound desperate and frightening. It's powerful and evocative, almost operatic at times. This is a song for your friends who think electronic musicians might as well be monkeys with computers. If their willing to be proven wrong, that is.