Sinister: Article in SFBG

[Tara Widmer]

"Alone Together" by Johnny Ray Huston 
San Francisco Bay Guardian Feb 11-17 1998

Faced with the plight of Eleanor Rigby, the Beatles basically said,
"Poor gal, what a pity".  But when Stuart Murdoch sings about similar
solitary souls on the title track of Belle and Sebastian's If You're
Feeling Sinister, he understands their predicament - he's lived it.  The
success of Murdoch's band illustrates a classic rock and roll irony:
misfit popularity.  As the indie herd celebrates Belle and Sebastian,
and writers endorse them in this week's Village Voise Pazz and Jop
Critics' Poll, it's worth trying to convey why they're special.  Because
they definitely are.
When I first played "IYFS" last summer, it didn't meet my expectations.
I'd read and heard that Murdoch sang smart love songs about guys and
girls, so I figured I'd relate to his lyrics.  But the first thing that
struck me was Belle and Sebastian's restraint.  I was too busy likening
the melody of "Seeing Other People" to the Peanuts theme to learn a
lesson from the song's actual theme: the gap between what people say/do
and think/feel in a romantic dilemma.
Luckily, when a friend lent me the CD a month ago, my comparison-crazed
rock-critic mind shut up and allowed me to listen.  This time around, I
felt the songs immediately and connected them with myself and a few guys
I know --
guys who walk their own difficult path instead of chasing the
commercial-sexual rainbow of lifestyle options (from drag-queen
femininity to gym-queen masculinity) offered by the gay community.
Still, is B&S's only audience were homo-misfits, they'd be mighty
obscure; one of Murdoch's gifts is an ability to connect his particular
experience with that of other people.  Or, as he puts it in "The Boy
Done Wrong Again," "All I wanted was to sing the saddest song/And if you
would sing along, I would be happy now."
Even that couplet doesn't do B&S justice; their songs don't languish in
melancholy so much as face the hard but worthwhile job of living your
own life.  The most moving song on IYFS might be "Fox In The Snow," in
which Murdoch observes a few living things during a snowfall.  There's a
metaphorical "starving" fox who might not be able to survive the cold.
There's a girl who tries in vain to "tell someone all the truth" before
turning to books for solace.  There's a boy so consumed by futile travel
that he doesn't notice the world around him.  And finally, there's
another boy, whom Murdoch tells to "make the most of" the snow: "Second
just to being born/Second to dying too/What else would you do?"
Each character in "Fox in the Snow" reminds me of someone, and not in
the generic pop sense.  Murdoch creates complex characters with simple
words.  The album-closing "Judy And the Dream of Horses" describes a
teen female rebel who "did it with a boy" before giving herself "to
books and learning" and "being number one."  The twist of the song is
Judy's identity, and it shouldn't be too surprising to anyone who
notices Murdoch's close empathy for and identification with women:

"The best looking boys are taken...... (quotes until 'If you're ever
feeling blue then write another song about your dream of horses, call it
Judy and the dream...')"

I don't think I've ever heard harder-won nonsense harmony than the one
Murdoch puts at the end of those words; it's the sound of real, personal
happiness. 
Murdoch's worldly-wise choirboy voice fits his songs, which contemplate
faith without embracing holier-then-thou Christian grace or
fire-breathing satanic zealotry.  He and his bandmates don't do
interviews, but they're too independent to be indie-rockers -- they
prefer playing churches to bars.  Likewise, Murdoch may have an acoustic
guitar and mention Bob Dylan in a lyric, but he's not a folkie -- if
he's the next Dylan, he's one who turns "don't look back" into advice
for young boys being cruised in parks at night.  Ultimately, B&S evoke
contrasts, not comparisons, with the greats.  Instead of adding more
unnecessary noise to popular music, they add scope.

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