FEAR OF DROWNING

Introducing rig rock: the sound of tidal melodies with twinges of combative emotion in every chord. This debut displays both their musical and athletic prowess (check 'em on stage - British Sea Power don't do inhibited). These boys from Brighton are bound to get heart'n'feet moving.

The Face, August 2001

They run a club you know, these British Sea Power people. In Brighton, with much the same musical sensibilities as Strange Fruit. Thus it was always going to be interesting to see what they would come up with on their very own record.

The answer, is a joyously full, epic sound, one of whooshing soundscapes and daring dynamics. But the icing on the cake is the breathy, airy lead vocal. It's a slow builder, instruments working together to create a crescendo much like a rising gust of wind. But it's nevertheless remarkably catchy, and whilst the epic sound and feel of the tune should make it seem formulaic and old the vocal style employed, the bronchial, desperate nature in which each lyric is uttered, raises the record from the bar of sameyness into something that actually blows you away. This is what The Soft Parade's first single should have sounded like, overwrought and overblown but never simultaneously corny. The A-side is backed by 'A Wooden Horse', which is similarly hazy and melodramatic, before collapsing into static. Lovely.

Paul Haswell, Strange Fruit, 11th July 2001