Record Review: British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?

Rating: 4.7 / 10.0

The philosophy behind arena rock seems to be that if you can fill a 50,000 person venue with sound, it doesn't really matter what the sound is so long as it is not completely offensive. As a result, most arena rock bands drench everything in reverb and hope nobody notices (or cares) that everything sounds basically the same. British Sea Power was always a group that had teetered on the cusp of arena rock, but had always - in my estimation - been able to preserve an edge in their music that kept them vital. They incorporated the vastness of arena rock and the idiosyncrasy of indie rock in a manner that few bands could duplicate.

Perhaps that is why this was a difficult review for me to write. From the first time I listened to British Sea Power's third record, I knew how I felt about it in a general sense - I didn't like it - but I couldn't quite put it into words. After discussing it with a few people, most notably my esteemed co-contributor, I realised that that was precisely the most glaring, damning fault of this record. It lacks definition, it is dry, indistinct, and makes no definite impression of any kind. It's a fault that is all too common these days, but I didn't expect it from this particular band. My bad.

There's not a whole lot to say about Do You Like Rock Music?. It is a disappointing fall from grace for a band that has lost its edge. BSP seem contented to retreat into the stupefying safety of arena rock house and hearth rather than venture out into the uncharted ground they seemed bound for.

Opening track "All In It" begins with a predictable crescendo, and then the vocal tracks fade away leaving only a brief bar or two or organ hanging before the staged explosion into tremolo guitars and a rock stomp beat that I've heard a million times before. The rest of the record is strikingly similar to this first track - the dynamics are there, but not convincing. The guitars are expansive but spread too thin. While the drums used to stabilise the otherwise frenetic maelstrom of BSP's aggressive sound, now they merely sound like yet another unimaginative part of an uninspired arrangement.

"Lights Out for Darker Skies" boasts a guitar riff that would only make Coldplay shiver. "No Lucifer" wishes it was "Please Stand Up", but the lyrics are trite, the ostinato guitars grate on the ears, and the mix is generally cluttered. "Atom" is the only risk taken on this album (and it fails, mind you), where an improvisatory, whispered introduction turns without warning into a Clap Your Hands Say Yeah-inspired rocker, with all the energy of CYHSY and some of the "oooOOOOHHHH"s you'd hear in a Kaiser Chiefs song. It's not great, but at least it's effort.

In the end, this record is something of a tragedy. It is neither the excellent album some (myself included) expected, nor is it an experiment gone horrendously, embarrassingly wrong. It is the work of a band who looked down into the abyss, and instead of gritting their teeth and jumping off the edge, opted to walk the same old beaten path so many bands have walked before. It's tragic because it's safe. Our only hope for a bright future for this band is that they think this album is as boring as I did.


-PTC