A SILENT FILM Back when Echo and the Bunnymen seemed set to rule the world, passionate and wistful tunesmiths popped up like mushrooms all over the British isles. This indie-rock spawn ranges from the atmospheric Josef K to the anthemic U2. They, in turn, gave rise to the current crop of emotive Brits in love with the big hook — Keane, Coldplay, Editors and Snow Patrol. Emerging in 2005, A Silent Film had a way with sweeping drama and winsome vocals, but it wasn’t enough to cut them from the pack of pensive popsters. Then, like fabled pioneers Walt Whitman and Bob Dylan, A Silent Film discovered America. The band’s latest disc, Sand and Snow, was recorded in the Arizona desert, and it has the euphoric sweep and dramatic gait of a ride in the high country. Melodic and melodramatic, with loud guitars and bright keyboards, A Silent Film’s sonic template is a throwback to the big sound of Simple Minds. Romantic storytelling that suggests Bruce Springsteen’s The River by way of The Killers seal the deal. It all works because A Silent Film maintains a compelling tension between Jack Kerouac’s endless American highway and the band’s own, thoroughly British, misty mountain hop. With Dead Sara. $14.65. Sept. 15, 8 p.m. The Fillmore, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-549-5555.