Sinister: The Church Upon the Hill is Looking Lovely

[Chris Jones]

WARNING - THIS E-MAIL BREAKS ALL SINISTER RULES ABOUT LENGTH. I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY SINISTERINES!


Oh my word...it was only the other day that Sam Walton (of this parish, former member of the York Sinister Massive) and I were reminiscing about Sinister and wondering whether it still worked. Honey must have heard us.

I was 15 when I joined this list, a giddy mix of hormones, faux teenage hubris, real terminal shyness and a lust for some mysterious boy/girl duo I first heard on the Evening Session via transistor radio back in August 1997 as I watered my neighbour's garden for the princely wage of £1 per day. They were singing this rousing number about a girl who caught some kind of venereal disease from licking railings. The next day, I caught the bus into Ipswich and purchased the 7" from Rex Records. I still maintain that I can trace everything which has happened in my life back to that balmy summer's evening.

Sinister was a window into another world from the wilds of rural Suffolk - I had never met another fan in person. Everything I learned about the band had been through Lamacq and Whiley, Radcliffe and Riley, the NME and something called 'the internet' which cost 1p a minute after 6pm.

I used to post under the name 'mummy i've grazed my knee'. 

I'm 32 now. I can't do that anymore.

Onto business though...I have oodles of B&S content.

Firstly, that Stuart David book...
I have read it. It made me swoon and feel just marvelous. The re-animation of Sinister is very timely, because it will take you on a beautiful nostalgic journey back to those heady late 90s days and make you fall in love with the band all over again. As they creep towards a slick, professional, internationally touring pop behemoth/contemporary cultural irrelevance (delete as you see fit) it was beyond wonderful to be reminded of why we all fell head over heels for them in the first place. I've been listening to the early stuff all over again, supplementing it with the newly learned scraps of joy from Stuart's book, and boy have I enjoyed it.

Next up, live...
I was lucky enough to see the band play in Manchester Cathedral last year. My first B&S gig was Scarborough 2001 (if memory serves me right, there is a sillustration of the time us York lot all met the band on the beach and I discovered Mick Cooke keeps chocolate in a bag with his shoes). I have seen them over a dozen times since, but there was something slightly magical about this show - it was very small, not overly augmented by auxiliary musicians and felt a bit like the old days. Of course, it was also full of keytar, Stevie Jackson songs that are politely tolerated and overt religious references...but it was warm and lovely. I was slightly concerned as I walked through the door that, after all these years, I might not care any more. I needn't have worried. I'm now terrifically excited to see them in Leeds this May.

The album...
Isn't it rather brilliant? 

Eric suggested GIPWOD - I've been using the working Sinisternym GIPPYWAND.
Sam Walton wrote a lovely review of it for Loud and Quiet - I'm sure he won't mind me posting the link, and if he does...too late :)

http://www.loudandquiet.com/2015/01/girls-in-peacetime-want-to-dance-by-belle-sebastian/

I'm aware that there used to be a rule about spending no more than 15 minutes on a Sinister e-mail because otherwise we all got swamped. I've already broken that rule because I'm just so exited that all this is still working and wonderful people are still out there. Before reading Sam's review, I wrote to him (using something called Facebook - it'll never catch on) to offer my views. With your permission, I'm going to paste what I wrote to him here - it's not all positive, but it's honest. If you are already bored of trawling through all my nonsense, I apologise. There's a documentary rubbishing UKIP on soon. That will cheer you up.

"First off...I love the album. It's a brilliantly diverse pop record - the likes of which nobody else is making - and made all the more excellent by some first rate production. Of course I am hugely nostalgic for the three day live take CaVa sound on Tigermilk and the church hall recordings on LLPJ and 369, but pound for pound this is the best sounding record they've made.


There are negatives no doubt - all the songs (with the exception of Allie) are at least 30 seconds too long. There's some unnecessary noodling and it's in danger of feeling a bit bloated at times. The final track, no matter how many times I listen to it, remains completely superfluous. I'd hesitate to say it's the worst thing they've done - not because it's a bad song per se, but because it's so bland. And I think therein lies the step up that this album reflects. Write About Love was so freaking dull! It was the sound of a middle aged band trying to get played on Steve Wright's Radio 2 show. Calculating Bimbo, Little Lou...just turgid nonsense. I really had no hopes for this record. I had resigned myself to settling for a superb back catalogue 1996 - 2006 and leaving it at that. Even the songs which verge on the side of nonsense now are rescued by being interesting (and incredibly well produced) - Everlasting Muse, Perfect Couples...even The Party Line (which was written by Bob, apparently). They are fun and different and I love them in their own way...although Perfect Couples has the worst lyrics of any B&S song and I can't stand the way Stuart says 'pop' in The Everlasting Muse.

The highs on here are incredibly high though - Nobody's Empire, Allie, Book Of You, Ever Had A Little Faith and the epic Play For Today, which has shot into my all time top 10. Sure, some of the 'electro' direction is a bit hammy - it's like they've tried to out-St Etienne St Etienne on Enter Sylvia Plath - and I will never cease to be astounded that one band has managed to produce two female singers who really just breathe in tune (Dee Dee Dum Dum's vocals on Play for Today really show up Sarah's efforts). It's so much fun though...and the tunes are still there. Massive tunes. Sure the string arrangements are typically naff and OTT, and I mourn the loss of Mick Cooke's trumpet, but it's pop hook after pop hook and I won't complain about that. I'm particularly pleased with ...Little Faith...it is such a beautiful, unexpected treat and the production is perfect - stripped back, loosely played (even to the extent that there appears to be a bum keyboard note towards the end) and absolutely evocative of the period from whence it came, but still in keeping with the remainder of the album.

My other major gripe though - and as someone who is 90% about style and tunes I never thought I'd say this - is Stuart's lyrics. Unlike many, I have no issue with the fact that EVERYTHING now has to have a God/praying/faith reference. That's what he's into and it's fine. He's being honest. For those who still want songs about buses, first kisses and municipal pools...they are being created using a different outlet. God Help The Girl is old skool B&S - Stuart knows that at 46(?) he can't get away with singing that stuff, but he can still write those songs and get someone else to sing them. If you yearn for 90s B&S, just hope that he makes another film. Incidentally, I have almost finished reading the proof copy of Stuart David's B&S autobiography... and God Help The Girl is definitely NOT a whimsical work of fiction. It is about the formation of B&S.

My problem with the lyrics returns to the issue of blandness. The religion seems to have stopped all the interesting, edgy stuff. There will never be another song about listing your biggest wanks, being into S&M and bible studies, seeing other people, going with boys and girls...all the stuff which totally drew me in first time round. I was transfixed by Stuart's world of Bowlies...but that world has been sanitised now. He hasn't left it behind - it's very much here on GIPPYWAND (I will suggest this to Sinister) - but without all the smut and intrigue that I am presuming his new found religious calling prevents him from singing about. Even the song titles could have been created by a random B&S title generator - but the really interesting vignettes are no longer there. We're just left praying around the old kitchen table when previously we'd have been getting a kicking with a melted toblerone under our dress before popping home to watch Man About The House and play with ourselves. When I saw them in Manchester Cathedral last year, Stuart joked about it, but it was obvious he felt uncomfortable doing the sweary songs in a sacred place.

Honestly though, for a band 20 years into their career this is a stonker of a record and bodes really well for the future. The fact that I've been able to read Stuart David's book at the same time has made me fall in love with them all over again - I've been listening to the 90s stuff with a totally fresh view. It's been utterly beautiful and I've found enjoyment in places I never did first time round. It's a great fanboy read - I've been reading it on the bus after work and am so sad that I'll have finished it soon. It's put a bit of much needed indie sparkle back in my life."

Thank you for listening Sinister. And thank you for existing and for bringing me joy and whimsy by the bucket load.
I'm very happy you're still here.

Much love

chris x

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