British Sea Power

U.K. indie-rockers British Sea Power were Ivy League smarty-pants way before Vampire Weekend came on the scene. On their 2003 debut, The Decline of British Sea Power, they penned melancholy songs about old-school Russian literature and obscure historical figures. On the new Do You Like Rock Music?, British Sea Power picks up the pace a little and turns up the guitars to about, oh, seven or so. The quartet still makes big, grandiose pop tunes that require at least a couple of Wikipedia searches to decipher, but the pleasures are decidedly more visceral this time around.