As I sit on the Greyhound on my trip to D.C., watching the landscape fly by, British Sea Power entrances me. From the opening chant, "We're All in It Now," I fall for their gloriously epic and uplifting songs. The grimy Greyhound is transformed into a place of wonder and magic and I swoon with joy.
Do You Like Rock Music? is the third album from the critically acclaimed but never-quite-mainstream British quartet. An obvious comparison could be made with Arcade Fire, but British Sea Power have been around for longer, forming in 2000. Their grand songs draw on older bands such as Joy Division, albeit in a happier form. Their bookish lyrics cover everything from birds to a famous British wrestler. They rejoice in rock music with intellect and distance themselves from, in their words, those who can't keep their flies up and put their foot on the distortion pedal at the right moment.
Live they dress up in military garb and cover the stage in foliage and stuffed animals. They delight in playing in unusual venues, from Cornish mines to by the sea on the Sicily islands. Several years ago, I stumbled across the band at a festival and was very confused to witness an audience holding and swaying with said foliage. Now initiated into their world, I understand how these touches would add to the effect of their magnificent and idiosyncratic songs.
It all begins with the joyous 6-minute "Lights Out for Darker Skies" and continues until the very end with great anthems. In particular, "No Lucifer" stands out as a great pop track and could easily become one of the festival anthems of the summer. "The Great Skua" is a beautiful orchestral piece, named after a seabird that attacks other birds and steals their food.
While the music is strong, however, BSP's lyrics can be a little too opaque. The sing-along chant "Ea-sy! Ea-sy! Ea-sy!" at the beginning of "No Lucifer" is apparently a reference to the wrestler Big Daddy, something only the hard-core fan or reviewer would ever realize. The CD sleeve notes make for an interesting read, as they include a rambling essay on how the CD was made, referring to everything from Brazil's football coach to the rock formations of Helvellyn, Bowfell and Dollywagon Pike. Often, the reader can get lost in their web of references and many sidetracks.
Their eccentricity, however, makes the music interesting and it is never so pretentious that it becomes annoying. The subject matter of "Waving Flags" is an unlikely choice, as the lyrics welcome the controversial migration of Polish workers to the UK. "Are you of drinking age? / On minimum wage? / Well, welcome in / From across the vistula." Talks of Czech ecstasy and the Carpathians are unlikely to be found elsewhere in the music industry. Their eccentricity can be shown also in their choice of places for recording the album. From a Czech forest, they went to a crumbling English fort and then finally to Canada.
At the end of the sleeve notes British Sea Power ask "Do you like rock music? Who wouldn't? All the nice girls love a pasty." Listening to British Sea Power, reminds me of my love for rock music and for Cornish pasties. I can join in with their chant, "We're all in it now"
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