British Sea Power is not one of those typical fame-hungry self promoters, press kit in hand, ready to shell out the atypical story of its hard-knocked life and hard earned success.

In fact, British Sea Power isn’t even sure what it sounds like.

“We used to describe ourselves as high-amplified church music,” vocalist / guitarist Yan Scott Wilkinson said during a telephone interview. “Nobody really got that. So now I’d probably go for, I don’t know, sort of indie rock. Somewhere between, I don’t really know, we sound a bit like Arcade Fire.”

Though Wilkinson really doesn’t like that comparison.

“I’m not very good at describing what we sound like,” he added with a laugh. “I’ll just leave it up to the experts, really.”

That’s the appeal of British Sea Power: It’s not like any other band, especially any well-known stateside.

A combination of Malajube’s melodic rock, The Living End’s anarchist energy with just a touch of lo-fi indie punk, à la Tyro or Search the City, the six-piece powerhouse hailing from East Sussex and the Isle Of Skye is in a league of its own.

British Sea Power’s fifth album release, “Valhalla Dancehall,” is described on its website as being a “direct album” with a “glorious scope.” It ranges from subtle electronic pop to loud, beat-heavy indie rock that reverberates off the walls.

Wilkinson said the band’s sound has definitely matured since he helped start the band more than 11 years ago: “(When we were younger) it was a bit bare, really,” he said. “We’ve sort of, I don’t know, gotten a bit wiser. We play the music a bit more … don’t drink quite as much as we used to.

“We’ve always had quite a varied sort of range, moods and songs. It’s just more of it now.”

Case in point being British Sea Power’s most recent single “Who’s in Control?” It’s a strong indie rock piece, true to British Sea Power’s roots, but it also takes on serious subject material unique to its music style, including anti-militarism and the anxieties of living in a 21st century world.

The uniqueness of the song was one of the main reasons British Sea Power decided to hire an outside director to film the music video, something it had never done before.

“This time we thought we’d just let someone else do it … we sort of deliberately decided to stay out and see what happened, for the first time, really,” Wilkinson said.

“I think they summed it up well, the theme and the song. It was meant to be a song about modern times, and it’s sort of a modern video, really.”

The music video centers around a group of young protesters as they are unfairly attacked by police during a rally. Though filmed more than 19 months ago, its themes eerily coincide with the recent student protests in London about increased tuition.

“It was kind of weird,” he said. “All the protests started happening, and then we ended up getting attention for it.”

The video also features an after-protest party, complete with drugs, drinking and full -rontal nudity. It’s not the type of video that could be played during peak hours on American MTV … not that Wilkinson really cares.

“We just don’t really mind too much if it gets on TV,” he said.

Therefore, the best way to see British Sea Power will be tomorrow at the Casbah in San Diego. British Sea Power will be performing along with A Classic Education and Republic of Letters. The concert starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance or $14 at the door.

Just don’t request any Arcade Fire cover songs.