British Sea Power, Bat For Lashes, The Seal Cub Clubbing Club

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The Barfly, Camden
Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8AN

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Description: South Coast-based indie outfit with a post-punk edge.

Phone: 0870907 0999

Trains: Tube: Chalk Farm Overground network

Organised chaos of punk mark 2

By John Aizlewood, Evening Standard 14.09.06

More betting shop than Betjeman: British Sea Power

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Newly shorn to a quartet, Kendalbred, Brighton-based British Sea Power spent Sunday evening alongside Barry Humphries at the John Betjeman Gala. Last night, it was back to indie basics: a tiny venue, a fistful of new songs and a rip-roaring show.

It climaxed with a new freeform ramble, Train, during which chief singer Yan and his brother, bassist Hamilton, hurled themselves into a crowd whose beery blokiness was more betting shop than Betjeman.

For all the English whimsy suggested by the recordings of gulls which began another new song, Mary, and the owls which heralded The Spirit Of St Louis, British Sea Power's undeniable Englishness is based around the cascading guitars, hugely appealing choruses and (for the most part) brevity of secondgeneration punk.

Hence the hints of Buzzcocks on the mighty Remember Me and The Wedding Present on the new Trip Out.

Like The Wedding Present, British Sea Power don't trouble themselves with between-song chitchat and when Hamilton did try to introduce one of the few songs he sang, his mumble was lost (as was Yan's lyrical wordsmithery) amid the eardrum-rattling mayhem. Yet they weren't overly aloof. Instead, all four eyeballed the crowd throughout, as if daring them to do anything other than throw themselves around.

By the time Phil Sumner staggered onto stage to add trumpet to the spry Carrion and chased guitarist Noble around stage, seemingly the evening degenerated into chaos. Even then, though, Noble and his colleagues never missed a note. Their time may yet come.

Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.

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The Actress Hands were fantastic. Surely something that should be mentioned since trumpet-player Phil Sumner was the keyboardist!

- Dominique, London