Watch closely now — I still occasionally stumble across a good one that’s being underreported. In one of the happier surprises of the year, an alt-rock band claiming to come from Canada doesn’t put up a bunch of half-asleep wine-gulper-pop tunes but actually makes a desperate, calculated and musically successful run for the end zone of true rock-stardom. It’s a quantum leap from the futzing around they did previously on a couple of EPs and one full-length; basically the idea was to streamline everything and just make a bunch of great songs. It almost seems as though they decided to combine Arcade Fire with Howard Jones and… jeez, what, REO Speedwagon? Yes, the band Fun is already making giant commercial strides with the ’80s-arena-rock angle, but this is more earthy, more barn-rocking on its Arcade Fire side, and meanwhile, holy crow, it’s guitar solos and stuff, old-school rock-club half-punk tempos, like something Katrina and the Waves would be opening shows for. Their one-sheet alludes to a lot of agonizing over the riffs and tones, but sorry, it doesn’t come off as cold calculation, just really good stuff — I mean, the closest thing you’ve ever heard to “Radio” is Robert Plant’s third solo album. Oh, don’t even try to grok my silly references, just buy this thing and send me a thank-you card. A+ —Eric W. Saeger