British Sea Power’s arsenal more noise than nuance

British Sea Power

Valhalla Dancehall

Rough Trade

Rocks Like: Mclusky, Maximo Park,… British Sea Power

Valhalla Dancehall

Rough Trade

Rocks Like: Mclusky, Maximo Park, Franz Ferdinand

Grade: B-

The first thing you’ll notice about Valhalla Dancehall — the latest album from UK post-punk band British Sea Power — is how noisy it is. Throughout the 13-track LP, the vocals are swallowed up by a rushing blast of instruments, crashing and breaking like waves against rock. It’s harsh and annoying and makes the album hard to enjoy.

Disregarding the skewed instrumental-vocal ratio, Valhalla Dancehall is, at its best, merely decent. Quieter songs like “Georgie Ray” and “Luna” are where the band truly shines. “Georgie Ray” is very Franz Ferdinand, like a little less bouncy “Dark of the Matinee,” with a bit of Bowie mixed in for good measure, whereas “Luna” is dreamier. “Cleaning Out the Rooms” is not as good as the other two subdued numbers, but features a redeeming violin-and-drum-backed track.

The rest of the songs are pretty stock indie/post-punk and could be churned out by any other hip indie-rock outfit. “Who’s in Control,” for example, is a politically charged song but sounds more like a party anthem, with the dubious bonus of a car screech during the bridge. “Thin Black Sail” is arguably the worst track — although a bit more original than the other loud songs, it’s manic and screechy and feels rushed.

In short, I’d recommend checking out only the quiet songs and simply tolerating the rest when they’re in the soundtrack of some pseudo-indie film in which Michael Cera plays George Michael with a different name for the billionth time.