A list of British Sea Power’s favorite things

By Nate Adams
Collegian Editor
January 23, 2008

Attention, rock bands: You can stop trying to make cool album names. British Sea Power has trumped everyone ever and anyone to come in the future with the title of its most recent release. Indeed, it’s the kind of statement that can be used to pump up a crowd, call out a naysayer or defend a good-but-not-great indie rock record.

That’s right kids. In this early ’08, British Sea Power wants to know, Do You Like Rock Music?

Spinning the first few tracks of DYLRM?, it’s hard to say, “No.” After an overly dramatic call-and-response introduction, drum fills and big riffs come flying in on “Lights Out for Darker Skies,” kicking off the album the right way. It’s the kind of song that can sweep a listener off his/her feet, causing him/her to air guitar, pogo and dance all at the same time. Clocking in at over six minutes, the song never lets up but also never becomes tedious, introducing new themes and lyrical turns on top of the ever present drums, which serve as the engine to the dance craze.

The second part of the 1-2 punch, “No Lucifer,” starts off slowly; a tease that suggest things will calm down before firing into thump-y pop rock song, complete with choir-like backing vocals. What really makes this song shine is the vocal delivery of Yan, the lead crooner of BSP. His voice has a light quality to it that makes for an interesting overlay with the guitars and chanting in the song.

However, by the third track, DYLRM? starts to run together. The band seems to run on one trick, which is taking catchy indie pop and building it up to a point of maximum tension before letting it all come down in a big mess of sound. It’s a trick used most often in the world of post-rock, which is why the wordless build of “The Great Skua” sounds more like an Explosions in the Sky song than a British Sea Power one.

There are a few other tasty tunes on the album, most notably the excellent “Atom,” which features some pretty cool lyrical turns like “I’ll be the first to admit this is a bright but haunted age.” It’s at moments like this, when British Sea Power take the mopey, indie pop genre pioneered by overly-dramatic acts like Arcade Fire and turn it on its ear with stadium-rock tendencies that DYLRM? truly shines.

Sadly, this only happens a few times on the album, making most of it very skip-worthy. Still, the less controlled and self-conscious moments, the moments that make folks want to stomp their feet and throw their hands in the air and sing their lungs out, make this a pretty hard album to completely throw out. I may never buy another British Sea Power record, but I’ll definitely see the band next time it’s in town.

Do you like rock music? Sure. Does that mean you’ll like Do You Like Rock Music? Maybe not, but British Sea Power will try like hell to convince you at least a few times.

adamsn1@lasalle.edu