For too many years, British pop rock has swindled American
listeners with promises of twangy guitars, hip vernacular and some truly
awkward Hugh Grant-charm (see: Travis, Coldplay and the last three Oasis
albums). Fortunately, on their third release, the Brighton quartet British Sea
Power has deviated from this stock English export to give listeners something
with a little bit more substance. Do You Like Rock Music? is not just a witty
title, but a fitting one considering that this record is the closest attempt to
conventional rock music the band has tried thus far. But this is not to say
that the band has wholly reinvented itself by any means.
In keeping with the band?s eccentric tradition of obscure
cultural references, Rock Music? is no different, citing such topics as the
great skua seabird, the Nobel-winning physicist Niels Bohr and the 1953 Essex
flood that lost the original records of Canvey Island F.C. Unfortunately, not
many listeners will appreciate these edifying particularities without immediate
access to Wikipedia available.
Unconventional lyrics aside, Yan and company seem to have
found a comfortable medium between aesthetic rock and post-punk hooks that
would make Rock Music? a real gem if it were not smothered under layers of
reverb and decay. In some songs, these elements add great depth to already
concrete song structures, but, in other cases ? as in the album?s glimmering
anthem of hope, ?Waving Flags? ? they simply drone on in a predictable cyclone
of miniature choral climaxes and reverb-drenched guitars that are reminiscent
of the Arcade Fire and Interpol. To make matters worse, the lyrical
particularities praised above are sporadically called into question with
nonsensical one-liners like ?You are astronomical friends of alcohol/ So
welcome in.?
But even with its atmospheric faults and occasional daft
one-liners, Rock Music? still warrants some deserved attention and time. The
album flirts with brilliance early on in the rockier ?Lights Out for Darkier
Skies,? which opens up with a warm guitar lead peaking just above an overdriven
bass line. The lead then takes a backseat when it is tastefully saturated in
airy synth chords before returning to the appealing overall melody of the
song.
The post-punk ?A Trip Out? is also notable with its choppy
guitar work and Yan?s dirty yet eloquent vocal styling. Even the droopy ballad,
?No Need to Cry,? has its underlying moments with rich harmonies and spacious
rhythms interwoven to give it a strange sense of conviction.
Do You Like Rock Music? is a collection of dismal songs that
have the potential to be great but often fall a little bit short. It?s not to
say that these lads aren?t trying ? after a few listens, you can sense
sincerity in the songs ? but British Sea Power needs to stop alluding to their
post-punk predecessors like Joy Division and The Cure, abandon this angelic
nostalgia and leave those aesthetics to Win Butler.
3 stars out of 5
