British Sea Power: Do You Like Rock Music?
Brighton's British Sea Power wave flags on their third album.
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Tuesday, 15, Jan 2008 04:59
Rough Trade, January 14th.
In a nutshell.
Sprawling, nuanced, agricultural, optimistic, and irreverent.
What's it all about?
Do you Like Rock Music? is the latest album from British Sea Power and maintains the group's atmospheric, star-gazing attitude, and grounds it in a robust, restless musical context to create a record which is endearing without being overtly sentimental.
The album's 12 tracks demonstrate the bands full oeuvre - taking in willowy, world-weary ballads, call-to-arms, baton waving marching songs and deceptively simple rock numbers - all filled with the delicate, intuitive and literate lyrics which make British Sea Power unique.
Lead single Waving Flags is already available.
Who's it by
Originally formed in Brighton during 2003, British Sea Power are almost as famous for their frenzied live shows - which incorporate a forest of foliage, military uniforms and intermittent instrument destruction - as for their music.
Sadly, these frantic days appear to have come to an end - with the group now taking the stage in a more recognised format. However, they have lost none of their caustic wit, agitated, impatient nature and challenging outlook.
Here the original members are joined by Efrim Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor), Graham Sutton (Bark Psychosis) and Howard Bilerman (Hotel2Tango Studios) - all of whom take up production duties, with each plying their magic in different corners of the world.
As an example.
"One fine day, before the apocalypse" - A Trip Out
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
British Sea Power revel in their outsider, off-kilter status and as such are unlikely to receive the mainstream recognition they deserve. The group exist on the periphery of the pop music canon, and is likely to remain their despite their intelligent, accessible rock music.
What the others say
"Rally around the Big Country-inspired guitar lead, marvel at the forward-thinking, pro-immigration drinking theme, and haul those canned vegetables and fruits into the fallout shelter and let us witness the glorious return of British Sea Power." - AllMusic.com.
"There's an underlying sense of egalitarian spirit and warped optimism to British Sea Power's raucous gambol, inviting you in on the gently demented proceedings rather than leaving you a cold onlooker." - DrownedinSound.co.uk.
So is it any good?
Do You Like Rock Music? displays the multi-faceted talents of one of the country's more quixotic and engaging bands; filled with wry smiles, staggering one-liners and a generally assured air of confidence. Certainly the most complete representation of the BSP manifesto to date, the album mixes the flailing bloodied hands of the group's debut with the more measured tones of their second LP, Open Season.
Opener All in It Now and closing track We Close Our Eyes are both maudlin but powerful; repeating their titles like timeless mantras until they begin to swirl and become ingrained with the music - both then swelling to become something more than the sum of their parts. And this is true of the album as a whole - while the band may not be the most dextrous or adventurous of ensembles - preferring to concentrate on more established structures and forms - they have enough talent to add water-coloured softness to their stark rock lines.
In between these pieces, however, British Sea Power flex their muscles. First track proper, Lights Out for Darker Skies, is a six-minute opus in a number of parts. Culling a riff from their first album, the track gains momentum, picking up reverb and feedback before snowballing into a fist in the air rock semi-anthem. The single Waving Flags carries similar weight and candour - championing the disenfranchised eastern Europeans who come to these shores in search of employment.
Fresh from his excursion with Brakes, Hamilton takes a more commanding lead here - especially on No Need to Cry. The track becomes one of the strongest on the record and shows how sorely he could have been missed.
This is a raucous record, filled with bright shining lights. The group have shed some of their quirkier pretences but remained true to what first bought them to our attention.
7/10
Christopher O'Toole