British Sea Power makes no apologies. The confident quintet's debut LP seamlessly combines post-punk and glam so well that the cover art pretentiously refers to the record as a classic. And, as lead singer and songwriter Yan explained before the show, there's nothing wrong with being pretentious.
British Sea Power's pristine attention to detail comes through both in record and in live performance. Every angular guitar lick, every Black Francis-esque spastic wail, every throbbing drum fill is painfully calculated. This same attention is given to the live show, carefully adoring the stage in shrubbery, stuffed owls and sporting early 20th century military garb.
British Sea Power, not surprisingly, has British fans. These British District of Columbians appeared in droves at the Black Cat, pints of ale in hand, patiently waiting for Phaser's set to finish.
British Sea Power took stage after 12:30 a.m. as the sampled Gregorian chants of "Men Together Today" played, and the crowd enthusiastically embraced them. As the band opened with "Fear of Drowning," the Brit fans earnestly jumped up and down - common concert etiquette in the United Kingdom and Europe - while the rest of them stood hands-in-pocket and watched. Most of the crowd may have appeared bored, but they weren't - that's just the D.C. concert-goers notorious way. D.C.'s own Dismemberment Plan tackled the subject with the song "Doing the Standing Still," and that's exactly what they did: Stand still.
"Apologies to Insect Life" followed, a timeless track fusing surf guitar with a furious bass line and Yan's ardent cry. The band closed with "Lately," a prolific 14-minute extravaganza that slowly builds from shoe-gaze tempo climaxing to an intense Bowie ballad, ultimately settling in a abstract sonic freak-out.
