- Artist: British Sea Power
- Band Members:
- Noble
- Yan
- Hamilton
- Wood
- Eamon
- Label: Rough Trade
British Sea Power play amplified rock music and are based in Brighton, East Sussex. Over the past couple of years, they have variously found themselves sharing tea and talk with Julian Casablancas, John McEnroe, Jarvis Cocker, Julian Cope and Jeremy Vine (just to stick to the letter Js). You have to ask yourself, how on earth did this happen?
The British Sea Power story really started in Kendal, Cumbria, up beside the English Lake District. It was here that brothers Hamilton and Yan attended the same school as drummer Woody. After finishing his exams, Yan relocated to Reading, Berkshire, where he met a guitarist from Leeds called Noble. Hamilton and Wood came down to Reading to join the jamwagon and, in essence, British Sea Power had begun. However, it wasn't until the band moved to Brighton that anyone noticed.
In Brighton, BSP began to stage their own Club Sea Power night. This was 2001, the year which also saw the release of the band's first record, the single Fear Of Drowning on their own Golden Chariot label. With beech branches arcing up over the amplifiers and a plastic peregrine falcon peering out at the crowd, Club Sea Power soon became a byword for a remarkable night-out. At the bar you might see a group of young women, DIY BSP tattoos inked lividly on cleavage. On stage you might see The Copper Family, English folk legends led by the then 88-year-old Bob Copper. The tattoos turned out to be temporary, but Club Sea Power had enduring effect. One Friday, Rough Trade boss Geoff Travis came down to Club Sea Power. Soon after, he offered the band a recording contract.
British Sea Power's first record on Rough Trade was a single called Remember Me, released in late 2001 (this song would later be re-recorded and, in 2003, give the band their first Top 30 single). In 2002, British Sea began to find themselves playing alongside a series of fine groups. In June, they supported Pulp on their Forestry Commission tour. Playing in the middle of forests from the Scottish Highlands to East Anglia, BSP had a lovely time. Of particularly fond memory is the evening they took Jarvis Cocker out to see the Nightjars in Thetford Forest, Norfolk. This enigmatic bird is best seen at dusk and can be attracted by waving a white handkerchief (in imitation of the bird's white wing spots). Jarvis waggled his handkerchief with abandon.
By this point, BSP were gaining a reputation as an astonishing live act. A Rolling Stone review of the 2002 Reading festival dismissed all the other performances in a couple of lines, before dwelling on the BSP set at length: "Fuck this puerile drivel, we're going to see British Sea Power... All of them have crazy acid-fried stares, the bass player is wearing tree branches on his head and one deliriously psycho-delic tune concludes with singer Yan beating on the drum-kit with a large stuffed owl. British Sea Power rule."
In January 2003, British Sea Power supported The Flaming Lips in Britain. By this point, BSP had expanded to a five-piece, with the addition of Eamon on keyboards and marching drum. It is generally held that Eamon is the most notable player to have emerged from Gloucestershire since Laurie Lee. On the second Flaming Lips date, BSP walked into soundcheck to find the Oklahoma trio solemnly playing the BSP instrumental Heavenly Waters. In March and April 2003, BSP toured nine European countries with Interpol.
The debut BSP album, The Decline Of British Sea Power, was released in June 2003. It was an ambitious work, ranging from visceral 70-second blasts called Favours In The Beetroot Fields to the beautifully structured anthemicism of Carrion. There was also Gregorian chant and the 14-minute keystone of Lately. The latter took in references to George Formby, the novels of LP Hartley and the Scandinavian sea lanes of the Kattegat. Clearly this could all have been a terrible mess. Yet, the album wore its scope well and drew resoundingly favourable reviews. "Stadium-sized melodies and exquisite songwriting," said MOJO. "Out of this world... a dazzling debut," said the NME. The Sunday Times simply decided that BSP were "The best band in Britain." The LP was also ringingly endorsed by David Bowie, Radiohead, Lou Reed and the nice young man who plays Harry Potter. The Decline Of British Sea Power has now been certified silver in the UK (60,000 sales).
The band celebrated the album's release with festival dates and, then, their own shows. In November 2003, BSP were supported by an impressive new band called The Killers. These dates saw BSP hit by an an unlikely injury. BSP bassist and singer Hamilton had climbed a tree to gather a few branches for stage decoration. In Keystone Kops style, he sawed through the branch he was hanging onto and fell to the ground. A severe wrist injury meant that night's show was abandoned, while this unlikely story shot around the world's news wires. This, seemingly, was the way to publicity. The band discussed which of them would now stand on a rake, who would volunteer to plummet down an open manhole.
The year 2003 concluded with BSP supporting The Strokes in Britain and Spain. There were two nights at Alexandra Palace in London and it was here that BSP met John McEnroe. Yan and Noble found themselves debating premium-strength beers with the tennis star. McEnroe argued loudly in the cause of Carlsberg Special Brew, while Noble fought the corner for Gold Label barley wine.
The globe-spanning BSP tour schedule bore fruit at the Time Out Awards in January 2004. BSP were presented with the award for Live Band Of The Year. The group were pleased to note that previous winners at the awards included Brian Wilson and Sir John Gielgud. BSP's April tour of Scotland and England concluded with a riotous, sold-out show at Shepherds Bush Empire. BSP festival appearances this year included Glastonbury and the prestigious opening slot on the main stage at Fuji Rock in Japan.
BSP spent much of 2004 working toward their second album. Songs were demoed in a barn up on the South Downs, beside the ancient chalk-hill figure The Long Man Of Wilmington. The album was recorded at Rockfield Studio in South Wales and at Kore Studios in West London.
The majority of the album was recorded with the tireless Norwegian Mads Bjerke and mixed by the great Bill Price. The latter has, of course, worked with anyone from the Sex Pistols and The Clash to Sparks, The Libertines and Fluffy. However, BSP were particularly impressed to note that Bill is quite probably the only man to have made records with both Joe Meek and Axl Rose.
The second BSP album is called Open Season. It is an album that retains this band's peculiar power while adding new dimensions of poise and prettiness. The time is right, then, to put your money on British Sea Power. After all, please remember, the less you gamble, the more you lose when you win.
Discography
- LPs:
- Open Season (Rough Trade, April 2005 - )
- The Decline of British Sea Power (Rough Trade, June 2003)
- Singles & EPs:
- Remember Me / I Am A Cider Drinker (Rough Trade, November 2005)
- Thirteen Ways To Disappear (N/A, October 2005)
- Please Stand Up (Rough Trade, May 2005)
- It Ended On An Oily Stage (Rough Trade, March 2005)
- A Lovely Day Tomorrow (Rough Trade/Bohemia, April 2004)
- Remember Me (Rough Trade, October 2003)
- Carrion / Apologies To Insect Life (Rough Trade, June 2003)
- Childhood Memories (Rough Trade, November 2002)
- The Lonely (Rough Trade, April 2002)
- Fear Of Drowning (Golden Chariot, July 2001)
- Remember Me (Rough Trade, December 2001
- Imports
- Open Season [USA] (Rough Trade America, April 2005)
- Open Season [Japan] (Toy's Factory, March 2005)
- The Spirit Of St. Louis EP [Japan] (Toy's Factory, July 2004)
- Remember Me EP [Japan] (Toy's Factory, December 2003)
- The Decline Of British Sea Power [USA] (Rough Trade America, September, 2003
- The Decline Of British Sea Power [Japan] (Toy's Factory, August 2003)