British Sea Power

[Synthesizer Patel]

ouch...

 

i'm curious, were you a fan of their previous records?

 

as for the Arcade Fire thing... it's unfortunate that Howard worked with them on the album, because without that people wouldn't be making the AF comparisons (there's only ONE song on the entire album that even reminds me of AF, BSP rock way harder than AF ever have for one)

 

not a massive fan, but i liked Decline a fair bit and i saw them play live supporting flaming lips a few years ago (just before their first album came out, i think), and thought they were alright live. when i reviewed this one i didn't really want to mention arcade fire, but i not only heard their sound (or perhaps more than just their sound - it's their posturing really) in certainly most of the first half of the album and i saw this album as having the same flaws that neon bible had to my ears. i just don't like their message - or rather, i don't think they've got one. and the album's music has got a case of rhythm pneumonia blues if ever i heard one. i think i'm in the minority even on the website i wrote it for, but i can't get around the fact i didn't like it.

[solace]

i see... well i guess they aren't a band i've ever listened to for their lyrics whatsoever... in fact i could probably not even quote you anything other than choruses

[keeprighton2]

Yep, BSP are one of those British bands (like SFA) who really do deserve to sell more records, and just maybe this will be the one.

 

Lets be honest, there's nothing original about the way they sound, much like alot of the trenchcoat wearing gloom merchants from the UK in the post-punk years (Bunnymen etc), but I love their eccentricity and there can be no doubt this album is full of cracking rock tunes. 'Waving Flags' is already being touted as a Glastonbury anthem for the coming summer, and both 'Canvey Island' and 'Lights Out for Darker Skies' leapt out at me - stirring tunes.

 

Love the way they play bizarre venues, gigs at village halls in the Lake District, cliffside cafes in Sussex and even one the other night at the Czech Republic Embassy in London. Well worth catching live, first time I saw them was around '01-'02 supporting the Flaming Lips at The Forum in London, remember Wayne Coyne sticking his head out of the wings to see what was going on. They looked fantastic wearing white military snow suits like something out of 'The Heroes Of Telemark' with the stage covered in foliage and stuffed owls.

 

Also saw them at a small club in Reading with support from, wait for it, The Killers - would have been about 2003 - remember the fledgling 'Mr Brightside' catching my attention at the end of the support set and then leaving the club seeing Brandon Flowers sitting on a sofa in the entrance reception hoping to be recognised by the departing punters! But I digress, BSP at that time included Hamilton (now left for Brakes) wearing an old British army helmet with contradictory white feather sticking out of the top - he would regularly leap off the stage and barge through the crowd bashing a smashed-up big bass drum. Then there was the stage invading ten foot bear.....

 

'....and we were lit by kerosene......and we were lit by acetylene'

 

Looking forward to catching them live again end of the month.

[pnêyu]

Although I can understand what might trigger the Arcade Fire comparisons, British Sea Power has indulged in epics since the first album, and if you want to be totally pedantic about it (and I guess I will), both groups can trace their influences to Ziggy-era Bowie.

 

Ah well, it looks like I'm headed to Visalia next month.

 

BSP at that time included Hamilton (now left for Brakes)

That's Eamon, actually.

[keeprighton2]

[quote name='pn

[lizish]

further confusing the BSP/Brakes issue:

 

Tom White, 14th January: For the last 36 hours I have been frantically listening to and learning British Sea Power's new, third album, 'Do You Like Rock Music?'. Woody, their drummer, has injured his back in some way. I received a call from Noble early yesterday, requesting my drumming services, and by 8 that evening we were tearing it up at their Brighton Electric rehearsal room. The tour starts in Belfast in three days, and an already weird year just got weirder. I'm so chuffed to be asked, and fucking excited.

[pnêyu]

Man, I love this band.

 

Stage dive knocks out musician

 

Indie band British Sea Power's keyboard and cornet player ended up in hospital after being knocked unconscious when he attempted a stage dive.

 

The crowd at Leeds Irish Centre failed to catch Phil Sumner, who jumped off a 12-foot PA system landing head first.

 

A spokeswoman for the band said: "The impact knocked him out straight away. He was unconscious for three minutes and there was a lot of blood."

Despite a broken molar and stitches he returned to the stage on Thursday.

 

'Very brave'

 

"It all looked a lot worse than it really was," said the spokeswoman.

 

"He's being very brave and getting on with it," she added.

 

This is not the first time injury has struck the group.

 

Just before they embarked on their sold-out UK tour, drummer Matthew Wood slipped a disc in his back whilst sweeping with a dustpan and brush.

 

Tom White of Brakes and Electric Soft Parade has stepped in for Wood while he recovers.

[trevor]

hahaha. that's the best article ever.

 

one guy gets hurt jumping 12 feet onto his face, and the other guy hurts himself sweeping.

 

rock and roll, man. it's a hardcore way to live. sweeping.

 

gold.

 

(i still love this CD. and still listen to it on an almost daily basis.)

[El Picador]

My friends Colourmusic are opening for them on the first 8 dates. I've been loving this new record and I'm stoked they get the priveledge to support them for a few dates. Unfortunately, I will be out of town when they swing through here but I'm sure folks in attendance won't be disappointed. Check them out:

 

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendid=10667490