Album: The Decline Of British Sea Power
Artist: British Sea Power
Born: Brighton, East Sussex
Released: June 2003
Genre: Indie Rock
British Sea Power are one of my favourite live acts of the past decade or so. I've seen them play many times, including a very memorable gig at the Amersham Arms in New Cross, back in November 2007, just after the release of their Krankenhaus? EP. They were electric. As well as seeing BSP on the festival circuit a few times, I also saw them open and play as backing band to Daniel Johnston at Union Chapel in 2012. Again, they were brilliant. Looking back now, you could argue that they helped to set off a revival in English guitar music, at a time when much of the good music was coming from the US (The Strokes / The White Stripes), Scotland (The Delgados / Arab Strap), Canada (Broken Social Scene / The New Pornographers) and further afield (Orchestra Baobab / Gotan Project). BSP's inspiration was post-punk and new wave, and throughout the decade many English guitar bands, from Bloc Party to Maxïmo Park, would mine similar territory. BSP were always a very unique proposition, oddball even, and their live shows with strange set decorations and the band wearing WW1 military uniforms helped to reinforce that image. This record also opens in unusual fashion, with the chanting of the first track followed by the strange vocals of Apologies To Insect Life (which are weirdly reminiscent of Kings Of Leon, who released their debut album the same year). Remember Me was one of two singles released in 2001, well ahead of the album, and helped to build expectation for the LP.
War memorial figures sing "remember me" and Yan pays homage to David Byrne with his casual "whatever", but beneath the rocking guitars and great melody is a sad song about growing old and hoping to be remembered by future generations. This is one thing I've always loved about the group, their ability to write songs exploring issues you don't normally associate with rock & roll, while still sounding great. Something Wicked, the first of many highlights on the album, references Shakespeare's Macbeth and is, as the band says, about "emblems of nature used for unnatural purposes". Like Franz Ferdinand, BSP do veer at times towards art school pretentiousness, but that doesn't stop them cranking out great tunes. The run of songs from Something Wicked to Blackout is astounding and makes The Decline... the most compelling of BSP's many wonderful albums. I especially like the psychedelic goth of The Lonely and the sheer majesty of Carrion, which sounds like one of Echo & The Bunnymen's lost masterpieces ("Oh the heavy water, how it enfolds / the salt, the spray, the gorgeous undertow / always, always, always the sea / brilliantine mortality").
British Sea Power are one of my favourite live acts of the past decade or so. I've seen them play many times, including a very memorable gig at the Amersham Arms in New Cross, back in November 2007, just after the release of their Krankenhaus? EP. They were electric. As well as seeing BSP on the festival circuit a few times, I also saw them open and play as backing band to Daniel Johnston at Union Chapel in 2012. Again, they were brilliant. Looking back now, you could argue that they helped to set off a revival in English guitar music, at a time when much of the good music was coming from the US (The Strokes / The White Stripes), Scotland (The Delgados / Arab Strap), Canada (Broken Social Scene / The New Pornographers) and further afield (Orchestra Baobab / Gotan Project). BSP's inspiration was post-punk and new wave, and throughout the decade many English guitar bands, from Bloc Party to Maxïmo Park, would mine similar territory. BSP were always a very unique proposition, oddball even, and their live shows with strange set decorations and the band wearing WW1 military uniforms helped to reinforce that image. This record also opens in unusual fashion, with the chanting of the first track followed by the strange vocals of Apologies To Insect Life (which are weirdly reminiscent of Kings Of Leon, who released their debut album the same year). Remember Me was one of two singles released in 2001, well ahead of the album, and helped to build expectation for the LP.
War memorial figures sing "remember me" and Yan pays homage to David Byrne with his casual "whatever", but beneath the rocking guitars and great melody is a sad song about growing old and hoping to be remembered by future generations. This is one thing I've always loved about the group, their ability to write songs exploring issues you don't normally associate with rock & roll, while still sounding great. Something Wicked, the first of many highlights on the album, references Shakespeare's Macbeth and is, as the band says, about "emblems of nature used for unnatural purposes". Like Franz Ferdinand, BSP do veer at times towards art school pretentiousness, but that doesn't stop them cranking out great tunes. The run of songs from Something Wicked to Blackout is astounding and makes The Decline... the most compelling of BSP's many wonderful albums. I especially like the psychedelic goth of The Lonely and the sheer majesty of Carrion, which sounds like one of Echo & The Bunnymen's lost masterpieces ("Oh the heavy water, how it enfolds / the salt, the spray, the gorgeous undertow / always, always, always the sea / brilliantine mortality").
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