However, they do pick British Sea Power out of a line-up every time. I am, of course, referring to the band from Brighton, England, British Sea Power, who play an extremely loud version of Brit-Power-Pop with just the slightest traces of twee thrown into the mix. Unfortunately, for our ears, BSP brought an arena-sized show to a sparsely populated beer hall. Unfortunately for us (myself, Her Mims, Etouffe and my friend Christian, who may be a Muslim) also, they dispensed with wearing their traditional British Navy garb. The brothers Wilkinson, Yan and Hamilton (their noms de guerre) performed in odd head gear. Yan wore an Axel Rose head scarf/ disheki and Hamilton wore a tinfoil helmet. Everything went eardrum-smashingly well until their final number, known only as “A” on the set list. They ended in a noise jam that went on for about 30 minutes too long that included guitarist Martin Noble joining the crowd and having people “jump rope” with his amp cord (including our possible Muslim chum, Christian.) Noble also pulled a microphone and stand into the waning crowd and encouraged people to shout into it. More tedious than enjoyable, it also meant no obligatory encore. Opening act, The Rosebuds, put on a spirited show as well. The husband/wife team from North Carolina even managed to put a little Phil Collins into their Zombies-inspired organ pop. It was pleasing to all, except Etouffe, who is irrationally afraid of zombies. Set opener, Jeffrey Lewis has friends in high places.

Hailing from the coastal town of Brighton, England, BSP sings a lot about environmental issues. Download “Larson B” immediately. In fact, buy all of their CDs. You can’t go wrong. Here are Yan and Hamilton performing:

* Apologies for the Monty Python para-phrase.