Still the best job I have ever had was working in an independent record shop, the mighty Soundcheck in Taunton. Owned by a lovely man called Roly, it was a safe haven where i could spend literally hours deciding which 7" singles i would spend my Saturday job money on. Finally aged 17 I got a job there. To be chap behind the record counter was pretty cool: playing the local DJs the new dance vinyl, chilling out in the back room which was a treasure trove of music and of course trying to look cool and knowledgeable (and failing) in front any pretty female music fan that might come in. I think my interview contains the best question I have ever been asked in that situation. "What are you 5 favourite bands and why?"
In the year I worked there I don't think I ever left with any money. In fact I think after every Saturday I probably owed Roly money. But what I did leave with was a heaving bag of vinyl bought at "trade price". Happy days.
That's when I first heard of a new Scottish band called 'Belle & Sebastian'. I liked the cover. It was a bit like The Smiths. Monotone and with someone reading Kafka on the front. It looked like the sort of album an A Level Art student should probably own. I think I even had intentions of reading The Trial. Still haven't though. Anyway the cool cover meant it made the payday goody bag.
The music is wistful and slightly amateur sounding chamber pop. Recording is very loose and sounds almost live given there's barely any production. You kind of feel that it was recorded in a single take in some quaint village hall. Probably just after Sunday School and before the W.I. came in for Flower Arranging. It's fair to say, Belle & Sebastian are more than a little twee.
Singer/Songwriter Stuart Murdoch sounds like Nick Drake when he sings. He has the presence of that frail kid from school that you felt a little protective about. But beneath the softly spoken and effete vocals there's a sharp wit. Murdoch dryly delivers some great barbed lyrics and demonstrates the ability to acutely draw small vignettes about the kind of 'mis-shapes' that Pulp sung about, or Morrissey. One of my favourites is from 'If You're Feeling Sinister': "Hillary in went to her death because she couldn't think of anything to say. Everybody thought that she was boring so they never listened anyway". I also like the following from the 'Stars of Track And Field': "I met a boy who went through one of you sessions / In his blue velour and silk / You liberated / A boy I never rated / And now he's throwing discus / For Liverpool and Widnes". I love how it captures petty small town jealousy and the perceived success. It's a lyric Alan Bennett could have written.
Murdoch has said that IF YOU'RE FEELING SINISTER is probably his best collection of songs a and I think he's probably right. Of the ten tracks on this the only duff tracks are 'The Fox In The Snow' and 'Mayfly' which are just the wrong side of twee. The other eight are both pretty and perfect - especially 'Dylan In The Movies', 'Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying' and 'The Boy Done Wrong Again'.
At the time it felt like a real discovery. Back it those pre-iTunes days when if you came across a gorgeous gatefold vinyl of an album this surprisingly good, it was genuinely rather exciting. Sadly Belle & Sebastian's inability to move on musically has meant that now, it's seems a little less brilliant, but IF YOU'RE FEELING SINISTER is still something to treasure and protect. Just like that soft kid you knew.
'GET ME AWAY FROM HERE I'M DYING'
'LIKE DYLAN IN THE MOVIES'
'STARS OF TRACK AND FIELD'
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