Getting Past Stunde Null

I've been listening to the latest British Sea Power for a couple of weeks now, trying to gather exactly what I want to say. After all, this is a band whom I've often championed to friends or anyone else listening. So I'll say this first, Valhalla Dancehall is another fine album, but unlikely to win over those who've not yet succumbed to their charms.

To start with the packaging, this is the worst artwork I can remember the band putting out. For an album cover, it looks like some lazy nonsense a first year Graphic Design student would put out while under the influence of bad dope.

Putting that grumble aside, there's plenty to like once you get into the music. First track Who's In Control? is classic 'epic' Sea Power, to go alongside Remember Me and Please Stand Up. It also seems a little political to these ears, with lyrics striking at mass apathy as "everything around you's being sold" and wishing that "protesting was sexy on a Saturday night. Where not for the line "over here, over there, over here, every fucking where" it'd make a great single.

What has become more clear as British Sea Power have got older is the influence of bassist Hamilton. While once brother Yan was de facto frontman, it's around a 60/40 split now. And their styles show marked contrasts, with Hamilton going for the more atmospheric approach, possibly reflecting his songwriting base on some Scottish isle.

This is best shown in the remarkable Cleaning Out The Rooms, which was also on the Zeus EP released a few months back. It was a great song then, and works even better in the context of the album. Keyboard player Phil Sumner's piano crops up a few times through Valhalla Dancehall, adding a different angle to the one that his predecessor Eamon did.

Not that Hamilton can't write a tune that makes a fair old racket, as Mongk II proves. There's a few moments were the band crank it up to the epic levels that made their name. I've read several times that this reflects the Cumbrian landscape in which three of the band were brought up in - and it does seem to be a fair statement. Perhaps my own feelings towards this music is down to me being from the same part of the world.

I've also read many times, with each album they release, that they've never equalled The Decline of British Sea Power. I can't disagree more - for while the debut was an excellent album, it at times felt to me like a selection of songs written over a protracted period of time. Subsequent releases have had a growing cohesion to them and Valhalla Dancehall continues the trend. It flows brilliant, with the tempo ebbing and flowing across the hour or so.

There's plenty to like here for fans, yet as I stated, I can't imagine many newcomers being won over - perhaps reflected by a chart placing of #22. Not that the band care, I'm sure, but you wonder for how long British Sea Power will continue to plough their peculiar furrow? I'm reminded of a favourite band of mine, the Comsat Angels, who eventually got tired of being obscure and tried to make a huge 'pop' album - only for it to completely fail to increase their profile. Will BSP ever be tempted to play the same gambit?