Arcade Fire (and Merge) pick up three Grammy nominations

The 2011 Grammy nominees were announced on Wednesday night and it ended up being a good night for the Arcade Fire, and in turn, Merge Records.

Arcade Fire picked up their third consecutive nomination for Best Alternative Album for The Suburbs. They were nominated for the same award in 2005 and 2008 for Funeral and Neon Bible. This year, they'll be up against Band of Horses, The Black Keys, Broken Bells and Vampire Weekend.

The band picked up one of the big nominations this year as well. The Suburbs is nominated for Album of the Year up against pop chart mainstays Eminem, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.

The third nomination is for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for the song "Ready To Start." They'll be up against Jeff Beck and Joss Stone, The Black Keys, Kings of Leon and Muse for this one.

Hopefully these three nominations will also earn the band a chance to perform at the big event. It would certainly make the lengthy broadcast much more tolerable.