Many bands have, a few years down the line from formation, found themselves lumbered with names that weigh like millstones round their necks but that they feel obliged to retain, having built up a brand.
In some cases, it's the result of a rash, ill-considered decision. Take Canadian post-punkers Viet Cong, for example, who formed out of the ashes of Women and released a marvellous self-titled debut album before eventually bowing to accusations of insensitivity and renaming themselves Preoccupations.
In other cases, however, it's through no fault of the band, but instead a consequence of shifting political, social and historical contexts. Had Aaron Turner's post-metal titans Isis not folded in 2010, they might have felt under pressure to rebrand to avoid unfortunate associations with the militant organisation of the same name.
British Sea Power, it seems, are illustrative of both. Announcing their decision to drop the "British", they've stated, with a sense of regret, "We always wanted to be an internationalist band but maybe having a specific nation state in our name wasn't the cleverest way to demonstrate that." But it's equally true that they're victims of circumstance: "In recent times there's been a rise in a certain kind of nationalism in this world - an isolationist, antagonistic nationalism that we don't want to run any risk of being confused with."
They've referred to the decision to become simply Sea Power as a "modest gesture of separation from the wave of crass nationalism that has traversed our world recently". Modest, maybe, but admirable - and one that might hopefully get the right people foaming at the mouth.
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