*---* HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINISTER BABIES *---* NOT entirely unlike your granny giving you a big, dirty French kiss when you were only expecting the customary peck on the cheek. Or finding out your mineral water's actually neat tequila spiked with white spirit and acid. Or reaching down to stroke a cute li'l doggy only to find out it's rabid, hungry and desperate to hump your leg. Too much, just too damn much. It's a "Noooooo! Bob Dylan's gone electric!" album this one, an electric bolt from Belle & Sebastian's previously placid blue lagoon. They've strapped on their guitars, their heavy-duty sweatbands and, quite possibly, their Arab straps, and produced an album that goes some way towards kicking arse. Well, thigh, at least. There's even a lumbering, dance-type thingy, "A Space Boy Dream", all "Starsky & Hutch" funk and Herb Alpert trumpet noodling. Not what we expected. And not exactly what we wanted either, because B&S don't do upbeat quite as well as they think they do. They ram some string- swept Motown euphoria into their pop washing machine on "Dirty Dream Number Two", but it just comes out as a soggy, crumpled version of McAlmont & Butler's "Yes", the faded, washed-out remnants of a song left sludgy and useless in its back pocket. They try their hand at melodious synth pop on the swooping, gobbling "Sleep The Clock Around", but the tune is just left to bob about in their self-conscious musical crocodile tears. By becoming a "real band" this time (instead of a living, breathing backing springing gently from Stuart Murdoch's head), Belle & Sebastian are in danger of losing their treasured identity, that priceless, erotic charm. It's not a disaster - not at all - it's just a shame. When Murdoch is left alone to get on with the poetic butterfly kisses of "It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career", the breezy sigh of "The Rollercoaster Ride" or the wry lyricism of the London-weary title track, the effect is almost unbearably beautiful. At other times (especially on the indulgent, watery songs contributed by his fellow Belles and Sebastians), this is a case of slightly too many bittersweet nothings. ROBIN BRESNARK 3/5 lots more b&s related bits in the papers this week too, v-twin interviews, little looper snippets, stuff like that... koogs == andrew dean (koogydelbbog@yahoo.com) _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+