Spin (p.92) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "From the dirty punk of 'A Trip Out' to the glimmering hope of 'Waving Flags,' the band's third album even recalls Arcade Fire's epic drama."
Entertainment Weekly (p.65) - "[S]tandouts like 'No Lucifer' and 'Waving Flags' touch real greatness." -- Grade: B+
Uncut (p.79) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he expansive lyrical concerns of the Wilkinson brothers are a source of fascination....Exhilarating in its ambition..."
Alternative Press (p.144) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] vivid, nostalgic traipse into what good rock bands ought to sound like."
Q (Magazine) (p.94) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A]n album that balances intellectual importance with the simple pleasures of great melodies played on meaty guitars."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.99) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he choral surge of 'All In It' or the Atlas-sized chants of 'No Lucifer' strain against the confines of indie airspace....British Sea Power are thriving out on the limits."
Blender (Magazine) (p.77) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[R]ecorded partly in a derelict water tower and steeped in the political-apocalyptic side of new wave that produced Joy Division."
Harp (magazine) (p.103) - "[T]hey may be at their most inspired here on tracks that let it swell, not rip, from the majestic chamber pop and melancholy swoon of 'Waving Flags' and 'Canvey Island' to the slow-burning beauty of 'No Need To Cry.'"
Clash (magazine) (p.111) - "[T]he band is firing on full cylinders and full of the usual mischief."
The Word (magazine) (p.99) - "The album's masterpiece is 'Canvey Island'....A magisterial melodic swell and Yan's croon make it a thing of heart-rending loveliness..."
Issued in early 2008, British Sea Power's third full-length studio album, DO YOU LIKE ROCK MUSIC?, finds the U.K. band admirably expanding its sound, from the beautifully noisy opener, "All in It," to its slowly unfurling companion-piece finale, "We Close Our Eyes." While the group, led by fiery singer/guitarist Scott "Yan" Wilkinson, still excels at tightly wound, guitar-driven post-punk arrangements, it allows them to have more atmosphere--as on the moody "Lights Out for Darker Skies"--a quality due, in part, to the presence of co-producer Graham Sutton of ambient-rock pioneers Bark Psychosis. While not a radical departure for BSP, this record plays to the ensemble's strengths as a willfully creative and ambitious act, easily eclipsing its previous outings.