Indie rock and sarcasm are like the Batman and Robin of music. They are a classic duo, and it’s hard to imagine one without the other. So when British Sea Power asks fans in big bold letters in the title of its new album, “Do You Like Rock Music?” hipsters are likely to be apprehensive.

British Sea Power’s third album is packed with bright, roaring guitar lines, sing-along choruses and all the other trappings that give a band — as Kanye West would say — “stadium status.”

But just because some songs on “Do You Like Rock Music?” would work well in summer amphitheaters doesn’t mean the band is in your face constantly. The somber bookends of the album “All In It” and “We Close Our Eyes” sound more like funeral dirges than monster jams.

The disc brings to mind the band Arcade Fire. When the slow-moving cathedral organ comes in on “All In It,” it’s hard not to hear shades of the thunderous album closer to “My Body is a Cage” from Arcade Fire’s “Neon Bible.” Not surprisingly, British Sea Power recorded the album in Arcade Fire’s hometown of Montreal, Ill.  

The bands also share a dour vision of things to come. On “No Lucifer,” British Sea Power’s lead singer Scott Wilkonson repeats the line “Is this what the future holds?” with the melancholy of a man who has  been there, come back and was not impressed with what he saw.

British Sea Power works well when its moody lyrics clash against more cheerful melodies. On “Down On The Ground,” Wilkinson warns, “Oh stop acting like you’re my best friend / When you don’t know why and you don’t care how it ends.”  Out of place, the line might sound angry, but over the bright guitar line one pictures Wilkinson singing it with a smirk rather than a scowl.

The album’s world-weary lyrics over enthusiastic guitar riffs highlight the contrasts that make it so much fun. It is atmospheric arena-rock that doesn’t make ears bleed, thoughtful and self-conscious without all the pretense.

“Do You Like Rock Music?” is a loaded question to ask anyone these days. Ask two strangers, and one guy could be thinking of Chris Daughtry while the other imagines U2. Yet they’re both technically thinking about the same genre. “Do You Like Rock Music” resembles the latter more than the former. And that’s meant to be taken as a compliment.

"Do You Like Rock Music?" by British Sea Power received three and a half out of four stars.