British Sea Power
Do You Like Rock Music?

THE REVIEW

The first reviews from the English press of the new BSP album have showcased what can be described as lazy rock journalism by systematically drawing a comparison between them and Arcade Fire. I've even seen U2 being mentioned. Nothing could be more misleading. All because this "Do You Like Rock Music" (but try a bit harder on the titles, guys, eh?) can be perceived as an "epic" album and because one of the producers is a member of Arcade Fire.

But this is a gentle epic, a sounding oxymoron, a delicate epic that is fully consistent with BSP's debut, which, by the way, came out before Arcade Fire's debut! It's an epic that gently takes you by the hand and lifts you up, but almost without you realizing. The melodies are often dreamy, surreal. If a comparison must be made, I'd rather say that BSP at times could be a Morrissey finally with a truly indie rock backing band.

In short, the album is great because it starts off brilliantly, with a masterful intro, and then one, two, three potential good singles that define the aesthetics of DYLRM: "Lights Out for Darker Skies", "No Lucifer" and "Waving Flags". Exactly: haunting anthems, human-scale stadium rock. And it continues with the equally excellent "Canvey Island", with slowed-down rhythms but intact power and expressiveness.

Elsewhere, the album manages to be varied in its offering, for example in the beautiful instrumental piece "The Great Skua". The quality manages to hold up almost till near the end, but in the last tracks, ideas seem to run a bit thin with the stretched melody of "Open The Door" and the somewhat krautrock somewhat not, but definitely not very successful experiment of "We Close Our Eyes": too long and insignificant to be a valid closing piece.

Another album that certainly won't change the world, but within the rather gray and insignificant current British scene, BSP are one of the few bands searching for their own path, independent of momentary trends, and they demonstrate they are not just another instant-band. With DYLRM, they hit the mark.