British Sea Power
Like most things essentially BSP, British Sea Power’s history is shrouded in peculiarity.
A four/five-piece of bemusing stature, their origins from the likes of Bury and the Lake District have prompted – somehow – the most strikingly exciting new band in quite some time. There’s drummer Wood; vocalist Yan; his brother Hamilton on bass; and guitarist Noble. Having met via uni, and all with a collective fetish for woodland materials and forest-based animals, it was their eventual spawning-ground as a group in Brighton, UK that finally saw their musical-produce picked up and become hot property.
Before long, the quartet had started a succession of well-received club-nights – Club Sea Power, no less – in their new stomping-ground, and went on to record what would form their debut-single: ‘Fear Of Drowning’, backed with ‘A Wooden Horse’, as released via their own Golden Chariot label. It was enough for head of Rough Trade Records – Geoff Travis – who, having heard the single and seen one of their Club Sea Power shows, asked the band to join his roster.
Cue the press-excitement, and first single proper – ‘Remember Me’: a classic slice of shocking-rock and frantic, manic vocals. The buzz was growing, but the band was still evolving. Shows extended to tours, and soon support-sets had been obtained with the likes of Pulp – and, later – The Flaming Lips and Interpol, all members of which became immediate, loyal followers of the group’s activities. With singles such as ‘The Lonely’/’The Spirit Of St Louis’ and ‘Childhood Memories’ following, the fan-base began to grow, let alone the eagerness of the debut-album’s release-date…
… Which is now set for Monday June 2nd at long last, an 11-track LP entitled ‘The Decline Of British Sea Power’ – a masterful, creative and brave body of work set to confound, divide and baffle for the next twelve months alone. Yet, in spite of its name, at least it’s set to provoke the much-deserved ascendance of BSP to indie-rock’s heady, dizzy heights of Cultdom.
Five-piece band-shots: Copyright Eva Vermandel
OFFICIAL SITE: The amusingly-written home-space of the South Coast nutcases; view the site\'s stats, interact on the message-board and find out about merchandising-purchasing potentials.
ROUGH TRADE RECORDS: With label-mates including The Hidden Cameras, The Strokes, The Libertines, Delays and so many more - BSP are a part of the exciting, nu\' Trade wave.