Customer Reviews

Decline of British Sea Power

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I hope i am not alone in this opinion, because I have to be honest I really thought the music was fairly average. At first the album sounded really good, but after a couple listens the effect of the band just seemed to really wear thin. I love this kind of music, but in my opinion this band doesn't do it very well yet. A lot of the tracks reminded me of many bands all at once, which isn't exactly a bad thing is this day and age, but the songs really didn't hook me and actually turned me off in their quality some of the time. Maybe I will get it later, but as of right now it seems like the band is at an early point in their career and will progress on to bigger and better things. Not exactly disappointing, but nothing that I really will buy or seek out to listen to. In my opinion just stick with Interpol, Pavement, Joy Division, Nation of Ulysses, and the Sound if you want to listen to music that sounds like this, but is far superior in songwriting.

The first thing that you hear on this CD is a 40-second Gregorian Chant entitled "Men Together Today". From this, its safe to say British Sea Power are an eccentric band. But eccentric is a word to be scared of in music recently, with bands like The Coral being "quirky" and "mad" for the sake of it and forgetting to make good music. British Sea Power tread the line between irritating and unspeakably cool - landing, fortunately, on the right side, even on tracks like the ramshackle, insistent "Apologies to Insect Life" which is a bit of a mess in an endearing way. But its not all like that: "Something Wicked" is glorious stately pop, and doomy, beautiful songs like "Fear of Drowning" and "The Lonely" evoke Joy Division and This Is My Truth-era Manics. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the glammed-up fuzz of "Remember Me" and "Carrion" recalls peak-period Bowie. Despite these many influences, only "Blackout" is anything less than consistently inventive. But at 14 minutes "Lately" is the album's stunner, a song for which the word epic seems too conventional.

British Sea Power are without a doubt the most interesting dynamic young band to come out in 2003. There is not a bad song on this album. The songs range from manic Pixies-ish pop to softer Belle and Sebastion ballads. But BSP know the meaning of dynamics and they put out some powerful rock. It may not be for the neogarage-rock fan of today but this is what Brit-pop should be! Buy it NOW!

A Bowie like vocal lamenting culture as commodity through a dense layer of static and feedback. Taking the likes of Morrissey, Suede and Joy Division - BSP have condensed the afore mentioned bands into a hybrid which is truely unique.
Remember me, Carrion and blackout are the obvious highlights due to the immediacy of their melody, but with every listen more twists and turns are hidden like a nervous stage actress hiding in the darkened corners waiting for her queue, waiting to be discovered. These are definitley five disgustingly talented youngsters who in the best tradition of British indie bands demand your attention.

Long awaited debut album from British Sea Power after four singles. This is an album of stadium sized melodies and exquisite songwriting. The vocals are breathy and desperate and the music intense, intelligent and non-conformist. This could be one of this years surprise packages. On rough trade

From what I could tell, this is the UK 'indie rock' band's first out of four (so far) CD's. I've seen their name several times before but never paid much attention. Have to admit I did like what I was hearing - like the awesome "Apologies To Insect Life", "Fear Of Drowning", the dream-like "Carrion" and the fourteen-minute epic "Lately". Should do something for fans of Muse, Joy Division, Interpol, Minutemen and possibly Echo & The Bunnymen.

British Sea Power are without a doubt the most interesting dynamic young band to come out in 2003. There is not a bad song on this album. The songs range from manic Pixies-ish pop to softer Belle and Sebastion ballads. But BSP know the meaning of dynamics and they put out some powerful rock. It may not be for the neogarage-rock fan of today but this is what Brit-pop should be! Buy it NOW!