British Sea Power

Do You Like Rock Music? charts the latest step in the evolution that took British Sea Power from post-punk-flavored debut The Decline of British Sea Power to slicker sophomore disc Open Season. For record number three, BSP enlisted three producers, including former Arcade Fire drummer Howard Bilerman—notable because this album is Neon Bible for people who do, in fact, like rock music. "Canvey Island" is cut from the same melodic cloth as Bible's "Intervention," with a warmer texture. "Down on the Ground," the kind of track that sets BSP apart, sounds like Ian Hunter playing indie rock. If Arcade Fire merely tease, British Sea Power hit you in the mouth; Rock Music is moody but lacks debilitating melodrama. Similar bands like Doves and Arcade Fire seem to be playing from some higher plane, but British Sea Power's sound rises from a subterranean morass of soil, blood, and distortion, enabling them to connect with their audience on a truly visceral level.
Fri., March 21, 9 p.m., 2008