ALBUM: British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?

From orchestral introduction "All In It", straight from the songbook of The Arcade Fire, it's clear that British Sea Power haven't spent the last three years resting on their laurels for their third album. It soon becomes apparent that this will be par for the course.

From the anthemic probable single "Lights Out For Darker Skies" to the ballad of Bird Flu, "Canvey Island", whats good to see is how well these songs actually fit together. The coherence and consistency on show here is definitely what was lacking on their previous album, although this comes at the price of perhaps a lack of craziness when compared to Decline Of...

Instead, the album dips its toes into both and ends up with a sound almost retrospective of their career to date. The storming "No Lucifer" complete with Soccer AM chant wets the appetite to what should be another live BSP show, but that should not take away from the value of this work recorded.

For it seems BSP have been experimenting with a much more North American sound, ditching the "Post-punk" style of The Futureheads and moving onto a much more traditional Indie Rock sound, but still very much of their own style, in their own way. Still including obscure references to Football Teams and historical events, such as on lead single "Waving Flags", but now also with a slight post-rock feel. None of this is unsurprising with the involvement of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's Efrim Menuck, who reportedly worked with them in Montreal, as well as former Arcade Fire drummer Howard Bilerman.

And while the album has its more mellow moments, such as instrumental, almost post-rock track "The Great Skua", which serves as a rough interlude, and semi-acoustic "Open The Door", these tracks work much better next to the more frenetic moments than they did on Open Season.

The first interesting album of 2008 has certainly kicked it off to a great start, and while this album takes a little bit of getting used to, it has raised the bar somewhat for British Indie bands, that desperately need to up their games this year.

Favourite 10 Albums of 2007 (5-1)

5:

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
For any band, the second album is always going to be difficult. For the Arcade Fire, following the amazing Funeral would seem to be an impossible task. However, they did what they do best; converting an abandoned church into rehearsal space and recording studio, experimenting with new techniques and new instruments and slightly refining their sound into something much more mystical and ethereal.
From storming opener "Black Mirror" its clear to see this will never be the "difficult second album" that their British indie contemporaries almost always fall victim to.
Release Date: 05/03/2007
Favourite Track: "My Body Is A Cage"

4:


!!! - Myth Takes
Fresh from supporting Red Hot Chili Peppers on their UK Tour, this almost unpronouncable dance-punk collective released arguably their best album to date. More complete than both their eponymous debut and their sophomore effort, Louden Up Now, the band, despite the tragic death of original drummer Mikel Gius, and the subsequent line-up changes, have matured and perfected their cacophony of sound. Unlike many of their peers, they are also able to back up great recordings with a great live show.
Release Date: 05/03/2007
Favourite Track: Bend Over Beethoven

3:


LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
LCD Soundsystem, the group revolving around DFA Records boss and producer, James Murphy, released something quite special with their dance-punk self-titled debut, and manage what few others do in creating a follow-up: making it even better. Where the debut had gratuitiously overlong tracks, and therefore an album that was difficult to listen to in one sitting, Sound Of Silver has relative nuggets of crossover genius. Lead single "North American Scum", their self-effacing anthem on their home country is easily as good, if not better than the best parts of LCD Soundsystem. And its all better from there on in.
Release Date: 12/03/2007
Favourite Track: All My Friends

2:


Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Tony Allen & Simon Tong - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Had it not been the inclusion of a certain Radiohead album (see below), then I could not have justified not having this as my number one. The supergroup's album, touted as "the natural successor to Parklife", is much easier to compare with the darker moments of Gorillaz' Demon Days rather than heyday of Britpop. However, the common themes that are apparent do, of course, share Albarn's intelligent and witty observations, and run through the album like a stick of rock. This, and more such projects planned would seem to sadly, reduce any chance of a Blur reunion, but if Damon Albarn can keep making music as good as this, I don't think many would mind.
Release Date: 22/01/2007
Favourite Track: Three Changes

1:


Radiohead - In Rainbows
Although rumours of Radiohead's ungracious departure from former label EMI (it has been recently claimed that they simply wouldn't meet their pay demands) have recently shed some more light on the motives of this album's unique pay-what-you-like release, when it comes down to whats important, Thom Yorke haven't quite shot up their own collective arse just yet. Being Radiohead, of course, it is not instantly comparable to any of their other albums, but instead achieves the great feat of being an almost retrospective appraisal of their previous work, as well as being something brand new and still relevant today. While "Nude" is an older song dating back from the days of OK Computer, and "Jigsaw Falling into Place" is a song newer than my last haircut, they both fit well in an album almost as complete as my personal favourite, Kid A. While I am still not sure where exactly I'd place this amongst the discography, it is nevertheless, regardless of the massive hype surrounding its release, an extraordinary album.
Release Date: 10/10/2007 (Download) 31/12/2007 (CD)
Favourite Track: 15 Step