Click here to download British Sea Power’s “Waving Flags.”
The title of British Sea Power’s third album begs the question Do You Like Rock Music? It’s a hard one to answer, given all the variations inherent in the word “rock.” Even armed with some knowledge of the U.K. four-piece’s past work—the post-punk drive in their debut, or the polished approach of follow-up Open Season—it’s hard to determine where under the rock umbrella their third LP falls.
Threading the left-of-center creativity that’s made British Sea Power an indie crit-lauded crew into big-rock stage bombast, Do You Like Rock Music?’s unpredictably anthemic tracks are stocked with rafter-reaching sonics—reverbed choir calls, singsong guitar leads, fist-pumping kick stomps, and high-drama vocal melodies—none of which have been polished to a straight-off-the-racks sheen. The tom thumps, effected guitar squall, and shout-along chants of “Easy! Easy! Easy! Easy!” in “No Lucifer” find something like the middle-ground between shoegaze and arena-rock. And it’s hard not to like, even if it’s a mix of experimentalism and approachability that takes a good handful of listens to start to love.
Lyrically, Do You Like Rock Music? is a fairly inscrutable listen. Singer Yan ramps down the Ian Curtis stoicism of previous releases in favor of David Bowie intensity to ponder ideas of the apocalypse and Hedy Lamarr. At points, the band takes similarly challenging routes melodically. “The Great Skua”—an instrumental inspired by seabirds—thumps and chimes, rises and falls like your better post-rock bands. But British Sea Power are at their strongest on “Atom,” seesawing between hooky indie rock verses and a world of delay and distortion. All the while, Yan calls out, “No I, I just don’t get it,” but it’s OK not to get it if it sounds this good.