Sinister: B & S wussy rock? I think not!
Todd Herrmann
tmh at xxx.edu
Wed Apr 19 22:16:18 BST 2000
The following article appeared in newspaper here at my school (Univeristy of
Maryland) a while back. While the author overall liked Belle and Sebastian,
it seemed he was afraid to admit it at first. Almost as if he was afraid
someone was going to make fun of him if did admit to omigosh, actually
liking what he terms "wussy rock". At least he comes off strongly in the
end. I think B & S is termed "wussy rock" by those who haven't really
listened to it and who won't take the time to give them a good listen
because they already have a preformed judgement in their mind that they
don't want to risk being wrong. Anyway articles mentions our very own
Sinister list!, so I thought it was noteworthy
Todd
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Either you like Belle & Sebastian or you don't. It's that simple. Some
people adore
them, which makes sense since they are adorable. Some
people despise them. "They
just add to the wussification of rock and roll" a friend of
mine once told me. And I
can't really argue with him.
Sure, Belle & Sebastian is wuss
music. But it's damn fine wuss
music. And, being a wuss, that's
fine with me.
For those of you not familiar with
B & S, I'll try to give a quick
primer: They are a eight-piece
Scottish band who take their
name from a French children's
TV show. Wuss factor number
one.
Their music is most often compared to Nick Drake and the
Smiths, with their lyrics
even more sexually ambiguous than Morrissey's, if that's
possible. Wuss factor number
two.
Lead singer/songwriter Stuart Murdoch has a slight lisp,
which is quite endearing, but
doesn't prevent it from being wuss factor number three.
Fans on the band's e-mail listserv have been known to post
messages talking about
how their days are going. Wuss factor number four.
Mixed in with all of this wussiness (I promise that's the
last time I will use that word)
are lots and lots of perfect pop songs. Acoustic guitars,
some horns thrown in here and
there and Murdoch's clever-but-not-obnoxious lyrics are the
recipe for many
memorable tunes from the band's three full-length releases.
In 1997, soon after the release of their breakthrough If
You're Feeling Sinister, the
band put out a trio of 4-song EPs that were released only
in Europe, available in our
fine country only as imports.
That is, until now, as the fine folks at Matador Records
have interrupted their process
of slowly becoming a below-average electronic music label
to gather these three EPs
into one handy boxed set - Lazy Line Painter Jane - for
your listening pleasure.
And a pleasing listen it is. Dog On Wheels came first, so
we can start there. The
title-track is a little heavier on the horns than most B &
S songs, giving it a slight
flamenco feel.
Fans may recognize "The State I Am In" from the band's
debut, Tigermilk, and it
shows up here in a more guitar-based version. It remains
one of the band's finest
moments, and this version is altered enough to merit its
inclusion. "Belle & Sebastian"
is the band's theme song, I suppose, and it's a good match
for the band since it is
about as twee as it gets, featuring an extended intense
flute solo.
Lazy Line Painter Jane is the name of the second EP, a song
from the EP and - for
some reason - it is also the name of the box set as a
whole. The song features vocals
from Monica Queen, whose powerful voice far outdoes Murdoch
in terms of
masculinity, saying far more about Murdoch than Queen. It
also has one of those
famous B & S lines, with Queen singing "You'll have a boy
tonight, or maybe you will
have a girl tonight." Nobody knows for sure.
"You Made Me Forget My Dreams" is a piano-based ballad that
detractors of the
band will love to pounce on. It's ultra-sensitive, even for
B & S.
"Photo Jenny" picks it back up, with lots of organ, some
nice harmonies from Isobel
Campbell (in the role she should stick with) and
reverb-drenched guitar.
3..6..9 Seconds of Light completes the trilogy and features
perhaps the band's most
rocking moment to date. At least they gave it a cutesy
French title, "La Pastie de la
Bourgeoisie," just to maintain their tenderness. The song's
lyrics are a perfect example
of Murdoch's compositions.
Murdoch's songs are usually about a young, well-read,
social misfit who Murdoch
paints a loving portrait of. "Wouldn't you like to get
away?/Give yourself up to the
allure of Catcher in the Rye?" he asks.
Those hungering for the more typical B & S sound will not
be disappointed with
"Beautiful" which, as corny as it is to say, is perfectly
titled.
These EPs are not filler. It shows the band at the top of
their game, as this collection of
12 songs easily exceeds the 12 that appeared on the band's
last album, The Boy With
the Arab Strap.
Granted this was because Murdoch decided to be democratic
and let the other band
members contribute four songs.
Lazy Line Painter Jane works perfectly as a place to fill
out one's collection or as a
place to start it. Gimme wussy rock.
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