Before I begin, I’d like to disclose that I am a big BSP fan, as you can see by my personal last.fm user profile (my #1most listened to song is Blackout off of The Decline of British Sea Power, and my #4 overall listened to band is British Sea Power).  I also really enjoyed their show when they came earlier this year, even if I didn’t really write a proper review.  So even though this album was released waaay back in February of this year, it was an album which I wanted represented on our list of albums reviewed for 2008.  So.  I really can’t say I remember how popular these guys were from the beginning, but I absolutely loved Decline, which is a great rock album, period.  Do You Like Rock Music? is a challenging title because if the album doesn’t deliver pretty good rock, it’s doomed to be ridiculed for having an unintentionally ironic title.  Thankfully, this album does deliver on its promise.  Hit the jump for the full review.

The Decline of British Sea Power was almost a concept album - WWI and naval themes abound on that record, and to this day the band still dresses up in old military uniforms in the live shows.  As strange as it may sound, Decline never felt like a gimmick, or something that was forced to be concept album-y just to be a concept album.  Despite this, on DYLRM, BSP flexes their maturity from the years, now speaking of themes about life, love, and relationships, all done very well on this record.  In addition to the more universal lyrics, every element of the music is fuller and crisper.  The guitars soar and hit in a way the rawness of Decline never did.  The drums are more expertly crafted to fit with the songs.  The vocals themselves have a great deal more polish and refinement.  It’s a lot of subtle-yet-not-so-subtle reminders that this band really wanted to showcase how far they have come musically with this album.  However, any enthusiasm for their sonic maturity is tempered by the fact that much of the brilliance of Decline was the unvarnished raw enthusiasm with which they approached the pure rock songs on that album.  Enthusiasm which seems to have been mostly lost in DYLRM’s production polish. 

BSP seems to like odd introductory interlude type tracks at the beginning (Decline’s Men Together Today), and this album starts off no different with All In It.  However, after this short detour, the album fires off with the superb Lights Out For Darker Skies.  The album overall relents on the gas pedal for a few tracks throughout, and those tracks provide a welcome differential between the electricity of the hard-hitting tracks. 

This album has few low points, and the highs are superb.  Lights Out For Darker Skies, No Lucifer, Waving Flags and Open the Door deliver exactly what BSP is seeking to do and go a long way to helping the band to deliver what the title promises you.  Like I said, the lows aren’t that low, but they do lack the emotion that much of Decline sits knee deep in.  Overall this creates a mix that hits very well on some tracks and slightly misses the mark on others – the misses aren’t bad songs at all, they just suffer from lacking that certain extra something that would elevate these good songs to a great album.  What they ended up with is something which is well crafted, yet lacks that certain emotion and joy behind the music.  As a result, the album as a whole probably isn’t going to be listed as anyone’s record of the year, but dismissing this record is impossible to do. 

Daigle Rating: 89

British Sea Power – Lights Out For Darker Skies – Do You Like Rock Music?
British Sea Power – Open The Door – Do You Like Rock Music?

British Sea Power is not currently on tour, unfortunately.