English bands never seem content to be pretty good; they’re always aiming to be the greatest band in the world.
Longtime indie darling British Sea Power cast its bid this year with its third album, cheekily titled “Do You Like Rock Music?” Recorded around the world at considerable expense, the album has an epic sweep that broadened the group’s base and caused old fans to cry sellout.
Was it worth it? Based on Tuesday’s show at the Paradise, sure. But the band hasn’t changed much, at least onstage. British Sea Power is still moody and textured, with literate songs that have enough lovely melodic bits to keep you hooked. This is a band fond of upfront bass lines, one-chord guitar drones and vocals that stop just short of betraying emotion. It’s no surprise that Rough Trade, the British label known for cerebral guitar bands, has this outfit on the roster. While there were echoes of earlier British bands, notably pre-Goth Cure and post-punk Wire, British Sea Power never got too caught up in the ’80s.
The band was all business, dressing identically in military haircuts and plain T-shirts and saying almost nothing between songs. When fans upfront shouted song requests, a set list was passed into the audience so fans could shout for the correct number.
British Sea Power played nearly all of “Rock Music” while avoiding a few of its formative singles. There were moments of pure pop (the new “Waving Flags” was a beauty), but most of the set was given to longer, moodier epics. The recurring lyric theme of lost souls drifting in a ship of state lent itself to trippy instrumental sections and a few angry outbursts.
True, the band fell back on a few of the same tricks; half the songs seemed to end with accelerating on a single chord. But the set began and ended with epics that brought out the group’s best.
The opening “Lights Out for Darker Skies” was grand and atmospheric, a three-part piece that built tension while never quite cutting loose. Guest violinist Abi Fry proved a valuable addition, taking more flashy solos than either of the band’s guitarists.
The longtime set-closer, “Lately,” was proudly excessive, leading to a frantic jam that found guitarist Yan borrowing lyrics from Neil Young’s “Powderfinger.” Hoisting their guitars for maximum feedback, the mates of British Sea Power proved that they indeed love rock music.
BRITISH SEA POWER at the Paradise, Tuesday night.
