Sinister: TWATTYBUS review

[Zach Braun]

hello all,

like a ton of others, i'm relatively new to the list and the band, but
i quickly became obsessed after hearing the new album.  here's a
review from my webzine "going underground"
(http://come.to/going-underground).

Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap (Matador)

"He had a stroke at the age of 24, it could have been a brilliant
career," sings leader Stuart Murdoch at the beginning of this, the
third album from Scotland's Belle & Sebastian. Drawing richly from the
English folk tradition of Nick Drake and Donovan and late '80s twee
pop, the eight-piece B&S modernizes it with surprisingly sharp lyrics
and songwriting. 

The second track, "Sleep The Clock Around," blends glorious swoops of
synthetic horns, Murdoch's velvet voice, and a bopping beat to his sad
story of "the memory girl." It's hard to describe how beautiful this
song is in mere words, but after a hundred listens, that's the best I
can come up with. Murdoch composed all of the songs on the last two
B&S records, but here
cellist Isobel Campbell offers the sweet and sinister "Is It Wicked
Not To Care." "Seymour Stein" describes the story of the famed record
exec wining and dining B&S guitarist Steve Jackson over a dusky,
slow-bubbling background. 

An album of mellow pop would grow tiresome to some listeners, so it's
good to know the most upbeat tunes are slotted near the end of the LP.
"Dirty Dream #2" sounds like a long-lost outtake from Nick Drake's
Bryter Layter, with insistent drumming and a sharp horn and string
arrangement. It's probably the most exciting backing that can be given
to a song that's blatantly
about a typical teenage boy hang-up: wet dreams ("You are dreaming,
you are sleepy, you are stuck to the sheets"). The title track is
another English folk stomper; this time it details the adventures of
the singer of the band Arab Strap with the equine
sexual device of the same name. 

The Boy... then falls into the piano-ballad beauty of "Chickfactor"
(named after a US zine), a simple song about the "Simple Things" to
make "a young boy sigh," and the seven minute "The Rollercoaster
Ride." It seems like I've been saying this a lot lately, but there's
been a lot of awesome albums that have a unifying mood and actually
keep the same level of enjoyment throughout the songs. The Boy With
The Arab Strap is no exception. 

It's amazing to notice how Belle & Sebastian have captivated a small
legion of die-hard fans on the strength of last year's If You're
Feeling Sinister (their debut, Tigermilk is impossible to find). The
band refuses to be photographed (the booklet is
filled with blurry pics of band members in a vaguely medieval
setting), and have an aura of overall mystery surrounding them.
However, just a small glance at the bustling Sinister mailing list
shows just how many slavering B&S devotees there are. The Boy With The
Arab Strap is a perfect pop album, and demonstrates that Belle &
Sebastian are worthy of all the accolades and devoted fans. You can
count me as one of them now. 
-------------------------------------------------------
on a completely unrelated note, is there a b&s fan here  in the states
willing to tape me a copy of tigermilk?  if so, e-mail me off the list.
bye,
Zach B.



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