Arcade Fire

“Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” is more than just the curtain-raising cut on Arcade Fire’s breakthrough album, Funeral; it’s a cold-shower shot between the eyes, a call to arms that’ll send a chill straight up your spine every . . . single . . . time. Which is exactly why the collective become Montreal’s biggest indie-rock band — a personal favorite of Davids Bowie and Byrne. Like a secular tent revival full of beautiful freaks, the instrument-swapping collective play music as if their will to live depends on it. That includes everything from such early fan favorites as the severe synth-pop storm of “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” and the ecstatic chorus lines of “Rebellion (Lies)” to the shimmering chase-scene keys of “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains),” one of many standout tracks on their first chart-topping platter, The Suburbs, which beat out the favored nominations of Eminem, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Lady Antebellum to scoop 2011’s GRAMMY® Award for Album of the Year: an indie triumph to savor.