Attenders Against Uremia,
British Sea Power have produced an insert booklet that is better than the accompanying record, Do You Like Rock Music?. Their third album is not a bad album, it’s quite good but at the end of their careers, we’ll all look over their work and say that this one was only just of its time. British Sea Power have not “sold out” but I feel they’ve tried to combine the traits of their 2007/08 contemporaries with the sounds of the traditional British Sea Power institution. The echo and feedback effect on this album is quite different from on the previous two albums – in this one, i
t clouds affairs, and it obscures that absolutely distinctive British Sea Power guitar sound. I feel that the producer may have been swayed by the populist liking for groups like Arcade Fire and has tried to make the group sound bigger. I accept that there are 4 of them; they can’t play all the instruments that these mini-orchestras can and ultimately, fake depth is worthless. And (let’s begin a sentence with ‘and’ for emphasis) they’ve even used some chanting styles and riffs that have been rehashed and bashed around too much by those in the twits and guitars genre recently.
Whilst I have my gripes, there are some fine songs on this album. I like Lights Out for Darker Skies because it’s something that I’d love to be able to do – think about an issue and present my argument artistically. The problem of light pollution has never been brought to the public domain so beautifully. “Lights out, baby, for darker skies, there really is no reason that you need to ask why”, is as good an argument as is needed. The night sky is a wonderful thing but something that we take for granted. It’s possible to go out on any night and see stuff that amazes; I meant to write a while back about a brilliant meteor I saw on December 17. I was sitting on the couch and I looked out at the right time to see a brilliant meteor.
No Lucifer is a unifying rally call that begins with a silly “Easy. Easy. Easy.” chant. In many ways, that’s what this album is all about – the band have thought about the future and decided that the human race needs to pull together. It’s well-documented that Waving Flags is a greeting to immigrants, “Don’t be scared cos you are only here for a while, and it’s all a joke” can refer to any version of “here” and my “here” is Earth and life thus this song qualifies for my favourite type of song – those which contemplate our mortality.
Canvey Island is a good one too, British Sea Power bring to our attention the impending doom that we’ve inflicted upon ourselves by our callous behaviour through the ages. It’s a song about climate change not sung by Chris Martin.
A Trip Out is a bit of fun musically. It has a jolly riff but lyrically, the band really explain the meaning of the rest of the album, “there is so much that you can loath and I can’t stop thinking about it, and I can’t stop working it out”, that’s a case of insomnia and a half.
Atom is something twits and guitars like The Wombats might spit out. I think it lacks British Sea Power characteristics. The Great Skua is a decent instrumental titled after a big sea bird, I’ve never liked skuas. I doubt I’ll ever see one but their appearance and characteristics that I’ve gleaned from by ornithology literature have always repulsed me. Open the Door is a relaxed pop tune that winds the album down to the instrumental that it has become popular, if sometimes unnecessary, to have at the end of records.
Do You Like Rock Music? is a stream of consciousness (this is becoming a cliché) that is endearing as a style of writing if not always satisfying when accompanied by their chosen music. The words are very clever, they continue into the insert booklet. There are several marvellous songs on this record and I guess on the whole, it’s a success for the band. There’s much about British Sea Power to like and I hope and expect there will be more in the future.
t clouds affairs, and it obscures that absolutely distinctive British Sea Power guitar sound. I feel that the producer may have been swayed by the populist liking for groups like Arcade Fire and has tried to make the group sound bigger. I accept that there are 4 of them; they can’t play all the instruments that these mini-orchestras can and ultimately, fake depth is worthless. And (let’s begin a sentence with ‘and’ for emphasis) they’ve even used some chanting styles and riffs that have been rehashed and bashed around too much by those in the twits and guitars genre recently.Whilst I have my gripes, there are some fine songs on this album. I like Lights Out for Darker Skies because it’s something that I’d love to be able to do – think about an issue and present my argument artistically. The problem of light pollution has never been brought to the public domain so beautifully. “Lights out, baby, for darker skies, there really is no reason that you need to ask why”, is as good an argument as is needed. The night sky is a wonderful thing but something that we take for granted. It’s possible to go out on any night and see stuff that amazes; I meant to write a while back about a brilliant meteor I saw on December 17. I was sitting on the couch and I looked out at the right time to see a brilliant meteor.
No Lucifer is a unifying rally call that begins with a silly “Easy. Easy. Easy.” chant. In many ways, that’s what this album is all about – the band have thought about the future and decided that the human race needs to pull together. It’s well-documented that Waving Flags is a greeting to immigrants, “Don’t be scared cos you are only here for a while, and it’s all a joke” can refer to any version of “here” and my “here” is Earth and life thus this song qualifies for my favourite type of song – those which contemplate our mortality.
Canvey Island is a good one too, British Sea Power bring to our attention the impending doom that we’ve inflicted upon ourselves by our callous behaviour through the ages. It’s a song about climate change not sung by Chris Martin.
A Trip Out is a bit of fun musically. It has a jolly riff but lyrically, the band really explain the meaning of the rest of the album, “there is so much that you can loath and I can’t stop thinking about it, and I can’t stop working it out”, that’s a case of insomnia and a half.
Atom is something twits and guitars like The Wombats might spit out. I think it lacks British Sea Power characteristics. The Great Skua is a decent instrumental titled after a big sea bird, I’ve never liked skuas. I doubt I’ll ever see one but their appearance and characteristics that I’ve gleaned from by ornithology literature have always repulsed me. Open the Door is a relaxed pop tune that winds the album down to the instrumental that it has become popular, if sometimes unnecessary, to have at the end of records.
Do You Like Rock Music? is a stream of consciousness (this is becoming a cliché) that is endearing as a style of writing if not always satisfying when accompanied by their chosen music. The words are very clever, they continue into the insert booklet. There are several marvellous songs on this record and I guess on the whole, it’s a success for the band. There’s much about British Sea Power to like and I hope and expect there will be more in the future.
posted by Leif at 10:26 PM
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