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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Once upon a time at South by Southwest, October 5, 2003
The musical force of this band seemed unlikely this past 2003 Spring Break. There were about 30 people at the show. These guys flew from Europe to play ONE show...ONE...in Austin, Texas for 30 people.We met the guys, and they had an intensity in their eyes, much like a young boy trying ferociously to learn to ride a bicycle. It was the kind of determination that foreshadowed their performance, and ultimately their philosophy...No matter how many people are watching, 30 or 3000, we will put on a show that they will remember. And yes, I remember quite well just how much these gentlemen (if I can use that term) literally lit up the 8 foot stage they played on. Dressed entirely in camouflage and war coats, they decorated the stage with foliage. Perhaps you have heard this about them. Pretty funny. My friends and I brushed them off immediately, taking this setup as a gimic. We were mistaken, and fortunately, we stuck around to see them play. INCREDIBLE. And I have pictures to prove it. I don't even know these guys' names...but for 45 minutes, they tore us apart. "Carrion" was what they played first, if I'm not mistaken...a beautifully tragic tune that carries a fast rhythm, yet doesn't go overboard...you're caught in between the intensity and the innocence of their approach. Pretty great, in other words. Each song built up gradually until their last opus, "Lately". How would I describe this song, other than a tour-de-force of sound approach and technique. The beginning guitar riffs show the harmonics of mainstream acts such as Coldplay, and early u2, their "Unforgettable Fire" era. However, the bass kicks in, and descends the scales much like Bowie's Spiders From Mars would in the early 70s. The song reached its Apocalypse, however, when every instrument explodes into a fury that could only be proven by their live show...and they delivered that completely. The "explosion" I mentioned is a blend of the surreal shoegazer noise of My Bloody Valentine's "Loveless" and The Stooges "L.A. Blues"...a complete disregard for everything you would expect in a pop song, rock song, any song. The guitarist whirled his guitar around and actually threw it into the crowd, careening into a young guy's shoulder. And everyone looked up to the stage in unison, jaws dropped. The guy was actually hurt. THEN, the guitarist climbed the rafters of the stage and found the club's storage closet. He then proceeded to launch 10 pound chairs down at the crowd below, running every which way for cover and safety. Meanwhile, the singer flies off the stage and lands head first onto the floor we're frantically running around on, and flops around like a fish out of water. Chairs are still flying down like snow. Bouncers and bartenders are trying to get him down, shouting and screaming. I look around...everyone else is doing the same. Yet there's this beautiful feedback, harmonizing from the amps. Everything was moving in slow motion. I just smiled. These are the kind of concerts that change the world. British Sea Power is taking their music to the streets, to whoever will listen.
Now, they're opening for Interpol.
Soon, they will be be headlining, and some Lester Bangs-esque journalist will write about how he once saw a band that wore folige, blew his mind with their beautiful noise, and made him believe again that music is still out there to be heard.
Get the album.
See them perform.
Believe it.
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~ British Sea Power
~ British Sea Power
~ British Sea Power
~ Radiohead
~ Vampire Weekend
by British Sea Power 
