For example, the song "Crown of Love" is shamelessly similar to Bright Eyes' "Fuck My Face, Fuck My Name", almost to the point of being offensive
the obvious similarity between "false advertising" and "crown of love" is that both are in 3/4 time. in addition to this there is some similar instrumentation (they both have a string section, for example). but that's about all they do have in common...you could say that they both have a similar type of crescendo, but "crown of love"'s changes time signatures to 4/4 and really blows "false advertising" away at that point.
The fact that Bright Eyes is the quintessential indie band of right now (whether you like them or not) means that lesser bands are going to naturally rip their sound. Much like The Strokes may not be original, but once they became popular a whole slew of cheap knock-offs popped up (Jet, Rooney, etc), I think the Arcade Fire is capitalizing on Bright Eyes popularity. Nothing new or anything, I was just venting frustration at what I see as a highly overrated band making waves yet again.
I'm not really sure what makes Bright Eyes the "quintessential" indie band right now, and I would also say that the whole saddle creek gang seems to be losing steam at this point of the "indie rock game". But it's not really the "sound" that The Arcade Fire (or bright eyes, really) has that makes them good.
It's the songwriting. It's the emotion that is exuded in the preformances. It's the texture...The melodies punch through all the songs and captivate people. All of the songs swell with layer upon layer of excellent instrumentation that sinks a hook into listeners from the first time on.
I promise, the album will be thirty times better when you stop comparing it Bright Eyes. Actually, it'll be even better if you don't compare it to anything.