Crap/not crap: Belle & Sebastian

[maomao]

Hasn't been a Belle & Sebastian thread since 2010 which suggests they're not as popular here as they were.

I was a big fan till 2006 but was disappointed in The Life Pursuit (I gave it one listen on headphones while shopping in Sainsbury's) and stopped listening to their new releases entirely. I'm terrible at listening to new stuff generally though.

Is Murdoch a dick? He sounds like he might be and some of his lyrics are a bit dodge. I'd rather hear he wasn't.

I'm putting not crap because I still listen to the first half dozen albums but I want to know if the rest of their output is worth a listen.

 

[platinumsage]

Crap. They sound like a 60s tribute band would to someone who has amnesia and can remember no 60s songs or groups.

 

[mauvais]

I was a big fan back when I had a paper round, and still a fair bit into my 20s.

Now I find it a bit too twee, and I've lost some of the naivety I think made it work for me. The Boy With The Arab Strap album is still good though.

I also saw them live once on a massive stage in Barcelona in the daytime. That should never, ever have been allowed under international law if nothing else. It was fucking awful. They should only be allowed to play dingy cupboards in little tea shops.

 

[hitmouse]

more like Bellend Sebastian amiright? As someone who has a near-limitless tolerance and enthusiasm for twee jangly pop, I still find there's something about them that just boils my piss. Fox in the Snow is alright though.

 

[hitmouse]

They do serve a useful purpose when the DJ's played a load of songs that you want to dance to in a row and really want a break to go for a piss and to the bar, though.

 

[maomao]

more like Bellend Sebastian amiright? As someone who has a near-limitless tolerance and enthusiasm for twee jangly pop, I still find there's something about them that just boils my piss. Fox in the Snow is alright though.

hitmouse. Am I right in filing you with the youngsters (ie. under 40) around here?

 

[nogojones]

I don't know much of their work and couldn't name you a tune, but I think they're pretty inoffensive, so I'll err on the side of not crap

 

[xenon]

Twee shite.

 

[platinumsage]

They do serve a useful purpose when the DJ's played a load of songs that you want to dance to in a row and really want a break to go for a piss and to the bar, though.

I think this is the stuff they play quietly in restaurants when not many people are there.

 

[killer b]

I love The Boy With The Arab Strap, but haven't found much I enjoy beyond that. On the basis of that one album they're not crap though, cause it's wonderful.

 

[chilango]

I sorta liked some of the Sarah Records twee stuff (Tallulah Gosh etc.) but not in any sustained way.

The one B&S song I'm familiar with is ok, but not twee enough imho.

 

[hitmouse]

hitmouse. Am I right in filing you with the youngsters (ie. under 40) around here?

Yep. Come to think of it, B&S sort of fit the "guilty displeasures" topic for me - not that there's any guilt attached to any of my tastes because everything I like is objectively correct, but I feel like they're... an important part of the canon for a lot of the music I like, but I can't really stand them in their own right?

 

[hitmouse]

I sorta liked some of the Sarah Records twee stuff (Tallulah Gosh etc.) but not in any sustained way.

The one B&S song I'm familiar with is ok, but not twee enough imho.

Oh, Tallulah Gosh definitely slapped. Similarly, not every Field Mice song was a banger, but when they were bangers they were proper bangers.

 

[maomao]

I love The Boy With The Arab Strap, but haven't found much I enjoy beyond that. On the basis of that one album they're not crap though, cause it's wonderful.

That was the first one I heard back in the days when I still bought albums by bands I'd never actually heard in record shops but Tigermilk is another fave of mine and I believe Dear Catastrophe Waitress is often considered their highpoint.

This is a current favourite song of mine because if you're going to be twee and fey you should commit to it fully like anything else in life:

 

[Knotted]

The Boy with the Arab Strap strikes me as quite brilliant especially towards the end of the album. Not that familiar with them otherwise.

 

[killer b]

I believe Dear Catastrophe Waitress is often considered their highpoint.

I have a copy of this but I think I've only listened to it once.

 

[killer b]

The Boy with the Arab Strap strikes me as quite brilliant especially towards the end of the album

Rollercoaster is a big singing-on-car-journeys song with the kids

 

[maomao]

I have a copy of this but I think I've only listened to it once.

First two songs are mildly annoying. Try it starting at track three.

 

[Knotted]

Yep. Come to think of it, B&S sort of fit the "guilty displeasures" topic for me - not that there's any guilt attached to any of my tastes because everything I like is objectively correct, but I feel like they're... an important part of the canon for a lot of the music I like, but I can't really stand them in their own right?

Bit of a "bands you refuse to listen to because their name is awful" for me.

 

[Knotted]

Rollercoaster is a big singing-on-car-journeys song with the kids

I've listened to it only twice ever. Listening to it again, it really is brilliant. Must give them another whirl.

 

[Sue]

Not crap. My favourite album of theirs is probably still Tigermilk. I've seen them live a few times and thought they were good, including when they were supported by a just about to hit the big time Franz Ferdinand. (Shows how long ago that was...)

Whenever I'm in Glasgow, my sister is constantly pointing various band members out. (She's quite into the music scene.) There are bloody loads of them though so...

 

[killer b]

FWIW the modern indie-rock holiday camp weekender, as pioneered by All Tomorrows Parties and the like, was an innovation first introduced by B&S with their Bowlie Weekender in 1999. Solid lineup too.

 

[Orang Utan]

Unbearable twee jangly indie bollocks

 

[mauvais]

Bowlie was still ATP's Barry 'How Many Times Can I Get Away With This' Hogan, if I remember right. B&S were the compere like all the other ATP ones over time.

 

[killer b]

Ah was it? I mean, it's just an ATP lineup isn't it, so I guess it should have been obvious...

 

[mauvais]

Maybe Murdoch did have a bigger part in it. Weirdly all NME's old shit is online so e.g. CARRY ON, CAMBERS

 

[weepiper]

Even as someone who generally likes twee jangly Scottish indie, I draw the line at Belle and Sebastian.

 

[hitmouse]

FWIW the modern indie-rock holiday camp weekender, as pioneered by All Tomorrows Parties and the like, was an innovation first introduced by B&S with their Bowlie Weekender in 1999. Solid lineup too.

View attachment 273964

Is the comic sans a deliberate bit of visual trolling, or was this back in the 90s before they had irony and that? Also, I wonder what £85 is in today's money.

 

[Raheem]

I find Belle and Sebastian consistently and uniformly neither good nor bad. Quite impressive in its own way.

 

[maomao]

Is the comic sans a deliberate bit of visual trolling, or was this back in the 90s before they had irony and that? Also, I wonder what £85 is in today's money.

£150.64 in 2020 money according to the BoE.