Arcade Fire: Neon Bible

MONTREAL'S ARCADE FIRE are the band of the moment. To the critical mob and clued-up music fans, they are the fresh-faced heirs to the epic-pop throne of U2 and Radiohead, writing huge, anthemic tunes full of dense harmonies and adventurous instrumentation. To the casual listener, however, they can come across like doomy creatures from the deep, overegging their music with frequent references to death and mythology, and tempering their catchy sensibilities with avant-garde awkwardness.