One day after Neon Bible - Arcade Fire's second album - was released, a comparable act peddled a strain of melancholic, baroque-tipped romantic alt-rock, profuse with sweeping, brooding vocals and hints of the classical thanks to a feast of instruments.

Cellos, flutes, guitars, synthesisers, bongo drums, trombones, chimes, saxophones, French horns, trumpets and handheld keyboards blown into with tubes (answers on a postcard, please) were tinkled on by no fewer than 10 performers.

Which is, after all, the most obvious parallel between the Canadians and the Manchester/Texan outfit led by vocalist Brandon Carr.

But while Arcade Fire's gigs instigate dancing and leave fans sobbing for more, The Earlies' sombre sound saw devoted fans waiting politely until songs' completions to cheer. Even the band remained eerily motionless throughout.

While comparisons have been made to Manchester's psychedelic pop scene, Brandon's vocals had more in common with Elliott Smith, while the electronic melodies had a whiff of Air and entire songs harked back to Nick Drake.

I may have thumbed through my iPod to Neon Bible on my way home but it'll be The Enemy Chorus - The Earlies' enchanting current album - that I'll be listening to if I ever become a Romantic poet.