With their fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid, the British Elbow pushed through to the premier league of Britpop. The group, from the nearby Manchester town of Bury, won the prestigious Mercury Price and exchanged the British clubs for arenas. At Build A Rocket Boys! the five band members now return to their childhood together, when they hung out in their village and dreamed of a future where anything
… was possible. Musically they elaborate on The Seldom Seen Kid, with transparent, slightly electronic and orchestral Britpop in which Guy Garvey's fragile vocals play the leading role. The melancholy is sometimes intensified by the use of a boy's choir in the choruses, while the reprise of the opening song The Birds is sung by a trembling old male voice. As the group likes to stress that they are averse to stardom, the success has not affected their music either. This is the fifth strong album from the unique Elbow. (MR)more