For a band that performs in World War I uniforms on stages cluttered with tree branches and the odd person in a bear costume, British Sea Power's Open Season almost seems, well, rather normal.
For the uninitiated, British Sea Power came onto the music scene with 2003's The Decline of British Sea Power
an album as eclectic as the band's name is bizarre. From the eerie choral harmonizing of Men Together Happy to the screaming hysteria of the improbably-named Apologies to Insect Life to the Sigur Ros-informed majesties of Heavenly Waters British Sea Power managed to draw comparisons to everyone from Bowie to Echo and the Bunnymen to Joy Division.
And while Decline established the band as one with a lot of different musical ideas, Open Season seems more focused on presenting them as an ace pop group -one that is decidedly more radio-friendly than the British Sea Power of old. Waves and waves of non-threatening, mostly distortion-free guitars blend with piano and keyboards to create a kinder, gentler sound. Only on the album's closer, the strange True Adventures does the band seem to recall the epic ways of its debut.
The album is not a total departure, however, and it is refreshing to see that British Sea Power's penchant for weirdness has not gone away. One track, Oh Larsen B
is a love song dedicated to an ice shelf. While songs such as Please Stand Up and To Get to Sleep fall flat, others -North Hanging Rock and Victorian Ice
for example -scale the same heights as almost anything from the debut album.
North Hanging Rock
in particular, with its repeated line Drape yourself in greenery/become part of the scenery
is a great combination of the band's penchant for unique lyrics and unique sound. What other band, after all, would rhyme guillotine with iridescent sheen
and, within the same song (Be Gone), mention aorta liver ventricles and heart arrhythmias?
Open Season certainly does not catch British Sea Power in the dreaded sophomore slump, but it does not exceed the greatness achieved by Decline either.
The 49-minute run time makes the album go by too quickly and some of the more conventional pop-rock songs sound so similar that at times they all seem to blend together; in stark contrast to the immediately distinguishable songs from Decline.
Despite all this, Open Season is still very much a distinct British Sea Power album and contains enough quality material to ensure that while the group may not be at the peak of its powers, it is certainly in no decline.
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