Sounds like today.

Myth Takes

* !!! * Warp

Sound of Silver

* LED Soundsystem * DFA/Eapitol

Neon Bible

* The Arcade Fire * Merge

Virgin musical territory is as scarce as undeveloped New York City real estate. But there are still plenty of emerging bands that can set pulses racing, This spring, three of the most promising acts of the last few years return, and while their new albums are often audibly indebted to pioneers like David Bowie, Brian Eno, the Talking Heads, and Kraftwerk, they are also fired by a nervy, youthful verve. "All My Heroes Are Weirdos," the title of the second song on Myth Takes, could double as the unofficial motto for this clutch of bands.

Explosive Brooklyn, N.Y., and Sacramento collective !!! (pronounced as any three repetitive sounds: "chk chk chk" is the most popular) broke out in 2003 with the club hit "Me and Giuliani Down by the Schoolyard (A True Story)," nine minutes of spiraling rhythms and chicken-scratch guitars that prompted even uberjaded hipsters to bust a move. But on the subsequent 2004 album Louden Up Now, the ensemble beat their winning formula into helpless submission, stretching ideas to threadbare thinness. As the punning title Myth Takes implies, the group recognized these shortcomings prior to making their third, and first consistently satisfying, album.

Polychromatic tub-thumping still forms the core of their mesmerizing sound, but the band abbreviates running times and introduces a wider array of timbres and contrasting dynamics. "A New Name" kicks off with a rumble, then pulls back, sprinkling toy piano and falsetto vocals over the mix: rather than push the listener towards the dance floor, the groove beckons seductively. The closing "Infinifold" eschews percussion entirely, save for an out-of-tune piano rippling under singer Nic Offers dark, soft vocals. Even the longest song, the eight-minute "Bend Over Beethoven," features spacey subtleties that counterbalance its running time and chest-rumbling drums.

Weaker individuals might be crushed under the weight of James Murphy's resume. As one half of production team-record label DFA, he has overseen hits that include the Rapture's "House of Jealous Lovers" as well as remixes for Justin Timberlake, Nine Inch Nails, and many more. But his greatest achievements are reserved for his own discs under the LCD Soundsystem banner. Early singles like youth culture screed "Losing My Edge" and the whiplash-inducing "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" augmented original, irresistible grooves with scathing humor.

The second LED album, Sound of Silver, retains all the key trademarks--clothespin-on-the-nose pinched vocals: savvy self-deprecating humor ("North American Scum")--but isn't afraid to slink away from the fracas too. After the throbbing "Someone Great," which features what sounds like a squeegee on a wet windshield, "All My Friends" opens with repetitive piano a la minimalist Steve Reich. And the hushed closer, "New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down," plays out an agonizingly bittersweet breakup with the Big Apple (crowned by a climactic caterwauling freak-out).

The Arcade Fire doesn't have to look up to their idols--usually they're joined by them onstage. After their critically lauded debut, Funeral, the Montreal ensemble were feted by, and performed with, David Bowie, David Byrne, and U2. But the specter that looms largest over Neon Bible is that of new wave gloomsters Echo & the Bunnymen, The Arcade Fire's front man, Win Butler, favors a melodramatic baritone and recurring images of dark water and storms at sea evocative of the 1984 Bunnymen classic Ocean Rain. The accompanying music is just as cinematic in scope: Timpani, brass, and pipe organ underscore often troubled sentiments with passionate, even uplifting, fervor. On "Keep the Ear Running" and 'Windowsill" string arrangements (by Owen Pallett of Final Fantasy) surge and fall like breaking waves, but Butler and company are never swept away. Squeezing an almost incomprehensible bounty of emotion into 47 minutes, Neon Bible is the sound of a band that could've played the Bayreuth Festival as comfortably as the Bowery Ballroom.