Open Season (British Sea Power album)

Open Season
Studio album by British Sea Power
Released	4 April 2005
Recorded	Kore Studios, London and Rockfield Studios, South Wales in 2004
Genre	Post-punk revival Indie rock
Length	46:36
Label	Rough Trade
Producer	Mads Bjerke / Graham Sutton
British Sea Power chronology
The Decline of British Sea Power (2003) Open Season (2005) Do You Like Rock Music? (2008)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Blender	[2]
Pitchfork Media	(7.8/10)[3]
PopMatters	(4/10)[4]

Open Season is the second album from the Brighton-based English band, British Sea Power. It was released on 4 April 2005 to positive reviews. It showcased a more accessible, mainstream sound and reached #13 in the UK album charts. Almost all of the songs featured on the album were recorded with Mads Bjerke, who had previously worked with the band on their 2002 album, The Decline of British Sea Power and also with Primal Scream, Girls Aloud and Spiritualized, and mixed by Bill Price, with the exceptions of "Please Stand Up" and "North Hanging Rock", which were produced and mixed by Graham Sutton and engineered by Phill Brown. "Oh Larsen B" was recorded by George Apsion and Tariq Zaid Al-Nasrawi. Two singles were picked from it: "It Ended on an Oily Stage" (UK #18) and "Please Stand Up" (UK #34).

If the CD is rewound 2:31 before the first track, an organ version of the song "How Will I Ever Find My Way Home?" is found.

The lyrics and title of "Oh Larsen B" refer to the Antarctic Peninsula ice shelf Larsen B, which collapsed in 2002, a few years before the release of the album.^[5]

Track listing

1. "It Ended on an Oily Stage" (Hamilton/Noble/Wood/Yan) – 4:23
2. "Be Gone" (Yan) – 2:52
3. "How Will I Ever Find My Way Home?" (Hamilton) – 3:11
4. "Like a Honeycomb" (Yan) – 4:31
5. "Please Stand Up" (Yan) – 3:07
6. "North Hanging Rock" (Yan) – 4:26
7. "To Get to Sleep" (Hamilton/Noble/Wood/Yan) – 3:16
8. "Victorian Ice" (Yan) – 3:26
9. "Oh Larsen B" (Yan) – 5:30
10. "The Land Beyond" (Hamilton) – 4:01
11. "True Adventures" (Hamilton) – 7:52

Japanese release bonus track

12. "Don't You Want to Be a Bird?" (Hamilton) – 2:55

Personnel

• Yan – vocals, guitar, piano, organ
• Hamilton – vocals, bass, guitar, piano, organ, backing vocals
• Noble – guitar, piano, backing vocals, organ
• Wood – drums

Additional personnel

• Abi Fry – viola
• Phil Sumner – cornet
• Graham Sutton – string arrangements and additional programming
• Axl – miniature Italian greyhound

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog number	Chart Peak
United Kingdom	4 April 2005	Rough Trade Records	CD	RTRADCD200	13
United Kingdom	4 April 2005	Rough Trade Records	LP	RTRADLP200
Japan	30 March 2005	Toy's Factory	CD	TFCK-87384

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Blender review
3. ^ Pitchfork Media review
4. ^ PopMatters review
5. ^ Alexis Petridis (2005-03-25). "British Sea Power, Open Season (Pop CD of the week)". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2005/mar/25/popandrock.shopping. Retrieved 2010-11-30. "Oh Larsen B, meanwhile, is the catchiest song ever to concern itself with the fate of a collapsing ice shelf"