THE FIRE THIS TIME!

Merge’s Arcade Fire strikes a blow for PoMo—and lands at #1 on this week’s HITS Album Sales Chart—with a 139k debut for its critically beloved new set, Reflektor.

The alt-rock innovators’ bow is very near that of their 2010 set, The Suburbs, which moved 156k in its first week and has sold 770k+ RTD.

Last week’s chart champ, Capitol’s Katy Perry, moved to #2 with 94k (-67%), giving Steve Barnett’s Capitol Music Group the top two albums in the land. Jolly good.

Speaking of jolly, two other new releases decked the halls of the Top 5, namely Wrapped in Red by RCA’s Kelly Clarkson and Duck the Halls from Duck Dynasty’s Robertson clan (on EMI Nashville, part of Mike Dungan’s empire). These two celebrations of Jesus’ birth have really nailed it.

YM/CM/Republic’s Drake holds the #5 spot with 38k (down just 11%). Another chart vet who hasn’t lost much ground is Lava/Republic songstress Lorde (#9, 34k), who slipped a mere 15%.

But wait: We’ve got three more bows in the Top 10. Two Country artists, Valory’s Thomas Rhett and Show Dog’s Toby Keith, hold the #6 and #7 spots, while Warner’s PoMo mainstays Linkin Park grab #8.

Rounding out the Top 10 is RCA’s Miley Cyrus, who racked up another 32k for her Bangerz, a decline of 24%.

The week’s greatest gainer is Capitol Nashville’s Alan Jackson, who jumps #46-39 (+14) with his mysteriously titled Bluegrass Album; honorable mention goes to Republic Nashville’s indefatigable Florida Georgia Line (#14, 15k), who add 8%.

Indie violinist Lindsey Stirling nabbed a #22 bow, seemingly powered by the YouTube Music Award she won in tandem with Pentatonix (see below).

Streeting today? Only the latest offering from Aftermath/Interscope’s Eminem, who will unquestionably deliver one of the year’s biggest debuts, not to mention Madison Gate's Pentatonix (currently #2 at iTunes), Columbia’s Celine Dion and Epic’s Avril Lavigne. Did we mention Eminem? OK, just making sure.

Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to get an early start on the eggnog.