The Beat Surrender

I’ve never really been able to put my finger on why Belle and Sebastian don’t get the credit they deserve within Britain and why they aren’t a bigger selling band than they currently are?

Sure some of the albums have the odd track on it that is just that little bit twee, a word that is commonly associated with them despite them having some fine pop leanings over the years. On the whole though, the albums have been of a generally very good standard, Tiger Milk, Boy With The Arab Strap and Dear Catastrophe Waitress spring to mind as three of their finest and most consistent, yet none of them have really gone on to sell the quantity you’d expect.

Part of the reason may be that on stage as a live act they have often had the ability to be either brilliant or completely shambolic depending on which night you catch them. If you look at most of the very successful indie acts of the last 15 years they have all tended to be able to cut it live. Even the newer bands that have broke through in recent years (Kaiser Chiefs, Hard-Fi, Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party etc) are all bands that have built up a tremendous live following.

I think part of the reason though ultimately is that the band themselves don’t want to jump outside their comfort zone, they don’t tend to play the media game that their contempories do, you don’t see them popping up on TV programmes as guests and you are privileged if you are granted an interview.

The music world though is better off for Belle and Sebastian being here, they have a loveable warmth about everything they do, not in a dull Magic Numbers way though. Not sure if it’s just me but once they get under your skin, you feel a sort of paternal pride in seeing them succeed and you want to put a protective arm around them when the knives are out.

So how am I feeling with the delivery of another grandchild, this one weighing in at a healthy 13 tracks and called The Life Pursuit?

Well I’m hopeful that the knives won’t be out for them and judging by the fact that the album has landed inside the top ten, (in at 8 just ahead of Daniel O’Donnell – no I’m not sure of the relevance either) then things are looking good for a healthy album.

The first few tracks on an album usually set the tone (how many of your favourite albums don’t start with tracks you like?) and this one is no different. Act Of The Apostle and Another Sunny Day are both upbeat, poppy tracks, while the first surprise comes from White Collar Boy with it’s dirty electro beat opening.

The Blues Are Still Blue give you another twist, this time it’s a T-Rex style vocal and bass before you get the delightful brass section on Dress Up In You. The first of two filler tracks on the album is up next with Sukie In The Graveyard (the other is To Be Myself Completely), not a particularly offensive song it just doesn’t do anything.

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