To the unsuspecting reader, it would appear that Monday is British Sea Power day, but, it just so happens that when we started up, Waving Flags was just out, and today saw the release of their new album.
Do You Like Rock Music? suggests there’s going to be an obvious album theme: Rock music. Then again, this is British Sea Power, so it’s not going to be a straight forward album.
Opening track All In It will either draw you in, or push you away. It’s a polariser; you either think you want more from these guys or less. Strangely, I must say that Yan sounds a fair bit like Tom from Editors in this track. Enough about that though, because the true power of this album comes in for Lights Out for Darker Skies.
Do I like rock music? Well, if your idea of rock music is ‘Lights Out…’ then frankly, I bloody love the stuff! It’s like what every good rock and roll song should be like; none of the gristle and crap, and more of the passion and oomph.
Even No Lucifer is a brilliant piece of music, making me smirk, which songs never do. A song that can incorporate the Hitler Youth into them gets some kudos for being lyrically clever. Matisyahu once made me smile by using the line “They never gassed me”, and now these boys get credit for that wonder.
I can honestly say, if I did a song by song, I’d tell you I love this album. I am inherently biased towards British Sea Power mind you, but, even if I think of it on a totally impartial scale, the goods still outweigh the bad.
With songs about H5N1 (or Bird Flu), the Hitler Youth, being young, Atoms; it’s all here. Do You Like Rock Music? basically provides you with a question: Do You Like It? The answer should be obvious. You either do or you don’t. I went in liking it, I came out loving this. I don’t know if that was because I went in as a British Sea Power fan, or because in some places it became more Post-Rock than simple Rock.
So, I say, go in, listen to Do You Like Rock Music? and by the end, your answer might not be a wholehearted yes, but, you should be swaying towards it. What this album lacks in cover art, it makes up for in creativity.
I give this lovely twelve-tracker a decent 8 of 10.
