Montreal's Arcade Fire successfully avoided the sophomore slump with 2007's apocalyptic Neon Bible. Heavier and more uncertain than their nearly perfect, darkly optimistic 2004 debut, the album aimed for the nosebleed section and left a red mess.
A classic indie ode to dusty tumbleweeds, leather jackets, red lipstick, and lovesickness so severe it can only be cured by an English band appropriating western Americana.
"The nobility of the human spirit is to recover and rebound," he says. "Yeah, I could focus on how f***ed everything is, but I feel now is the time when being hopeful is necessary, and a still-believable emotion within what makes Interpol Interpol."