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British Sea Power 'Do You Like Rock Music?'
Be it foliage-decked stages, dancing bears or staging gigs in venues as bizarre as Cornwall’s Carnglaze Caverns, British Sea Power have justifiably established themselves as indie’s answer to the eccentric uncle.
Factor in a predilection for dressing up like extras from a production of R.C.Sherriff’s World War One drama ‘Journey’s End’, giving journalists grid references by way of a rendezvous and a healthy obsession with Field Marshall Montgomery, it’s easy to see why the Brighton quartet are more commonly known for their eccentricities than they are for their music.
From the ever expanding chanting of ‘All In It’ and the thrilling, opening bars of ‘Lights Out For Darker Skies’, ‘Do You Like Rock Music?’ – their third album – finds British Sea Power attempting to redress the balance between their art and their persona. The expanse in sound and scope goes some way to achieving their objective. Aided and abetted by production work from Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s Efrim Manuck, British Sea Power are a fuller and more strapping proposition than in days of yore.
The grandeur of ‘Waving Flags’ finds the band striking the perfect balance between their public image and actualising the sounds in their heads. Partly in thrall to The Flaming Lips, its epic sweep celebrates Eastern European migration with a quirkiness that manages to be touching. Elsewhere ‘A Trip Out’ and ‘Down On The Ground’ flex their six string muscles in a move that suggests British Sea Power are gearing themselves up for some overdriven posturing.
Alas, whether it’s due to a lack of fibre and conviction on their part or a dearth of ideas, British Sea Power run out of steam as they flip their default setting to “common-or-garden-indie” and trot out strummed mediocrities such as ‘Open The Door’ and ‘No Need To Cry’ while the eight-minute reprise of ‘All In It’, ‘We Close Our Eyes’, is an unnecessary trek through slamming doors, clanking chains and the equivalent of the band asking, “Will this do?”
The answer, of course, is “No”. In the main, ‘Do You Like Rock Music?’ is a fine enough album but what disappoints this time round is that it isn’t a great album. Despite garnering comparisons with Arcade Fire, British Sea Power – as implied by their name – remain a provincial concern. As with their previous releases, flashes of brilliance are in evidence but their definitive statement still eludes them. It’s in their reach but dare they grab it?
British Sea Power ‘Do You Like Rock Music?’ (Rough Trade) Released January 14 2008
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