BELLE AND SEBASTIAN: THE LIFE PURSUIT
(2006)
1) Act Of The Apostle; 2)
Another Sunny Day; 3) White Collar Boy; 4) The Blues Are Still Blue; 5) Dress
Up In You; 6) Sukie In The Graveyard; 7) We Are The Sleepyheads; 8) Song For
Sunshine; 9) Funny Little Frog; 10) To Be Myself Completely; 11) Act Of The
Apostle II; 12) For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea; 13) Mornington Crescent.
Dear
Catastrophe Waitress was so
unexpectedly fresh, attractive, and intelligent, that it was only too natural
to try the same formula at least one more time. For production, Murdoch turned
from Trevor Horn to Tony Hoffer, previously known for producing Supergrass and
working as mixing engineer on several of Beck's records — but the particular
choice probably does not matter as much as the fact that Trevor Horn's shadow
still lurks behind, encouraging Murdoch to add more colors and rhythmic drive
to the songs.
To the melodies, that is, but not to the lyrics.
Murdoch's agenda is now perfectly clear: his worldview has not changed a
single bit, but now he is delivering his bitter lambasting of random stereotypes
to «happy» melodies rather than «sad» ones, and, whaddaya know, this turns out
to be even more effective, or, at least, less predictable and therefore more
impressive than it used to. Begin with the beginning: The Life Pursuit — great title for an optimistic, hope-inspiring,
life-asserting record. Then it turns out that the three faces on the album
sleeve look a little suspicious: lack of smiles and an overall worried /
puzzled facial expression from all three does not exactly agree with the idea
of «pursuing life».
Then you hear the songs, and waves of
bright-pop joyfulness start splashing all around, and sure enough, this is the mellow, but energetic sound of a
genuine life pursuit. How could anyone feel anything but warmth and happiness when the Kinks-style riffage of ʽThe Blues
Will Be Blueʼ invades the room, and your foot starts a-tappin' and your lips
start a-chantin'? Then, after a
while, only after you have already fallen in love with the song's lilting
melody, you actually start a-thinkin' about what it is that you're chanting —
and what you're chanting is a song about how everybody that surrounds you is
either a poseur, a hypocrite, or an idiot, how the realization of this simple
truth succeeds in driving you crazy, and how the only thing that is permanent
is a sense of deep shit. Happy singalong, brother.
Naturally, Murdoch did not invent this style of
doing business and, in fact, the Kinks connection is now stronger than ever in this respect as well: I do not know how
well acquainted Ray Davies is with the oeuvres of Belle & Sebastian, but I
am fairly sure that The Life Pursuit
is the one album in their catalog with which he might feel a special bond.
Nevertheless, Murdoch is doing this in a manner that is fairly appropriate for
2006, much as Ray sang his happy songs about misery in a manner that was all
the rage in 1966, and, most importantly, he is doing this better than anybody else in 2006. Years of experience wear
out some artists, but Stuart's microgenius has aged well, and now he is cutting
cool tune after cool tune — ʽThe Bluesʼ is an obvious highlight ("I left
my lady in the launderette..." might just be this band's catchiest single
chorus ever), but so is the funky, organ / fuzz bass-driven ʽSukie In The
Graveyardʼ, or the lightly psychedelic, cloud-hopping ʽWe Are The Sleepyheadsʼ
with its echoey «child angel choir» harmonies, or the brass-heavy ʽFunny Little
Frogʼ, a sarcastic sendup of unconditional love whose main hook consists of
wondering how the hell can Stuart forcefully make "know it",
"poet", "court", and "throat" rhyme with each
other, all four of them, and get away with it.
The most «anthemic» song is saved for
next-to-last: ʽFor The Price Of A Cup Of Teaʼ has a murkier, less easily decodable,
but just as worriesome message as the rest of them, and it is an absolute blast
of syncopated pop perfection — the contrast between the choral declamation of
the first line and Murdoch's thin, subtle counterstrike of the second does not
just stick in the head, it is almost inspirational, despite the fact that what
you are actually getting for the price of a cup of tea is "a line of
coke", and that's just the beginning of the story. But it does not finish
off the album: the softer, longer, more pensive ʽMornington Crescentʼ does, a
mildly haunting ballad that ends with faintly pronounced words that are all too
easy to neglect but are, in fact, horrifying: "The possibilities suggest
themselves to me... we're a little too
free". Bingo, the kid finally hits upon the correct diagnosis. No
wonder this music is so damn good — when you know what the problem is, it's all
too easy to convert it into solid art.
I have not mentioned neither the ballads nor
the hard rockers so far, of which there are several (ʽAct Of The Apostleʼ and
ʽWhite Collar Boyʼ respectively illustrating both categories), but this is not
where its major musical muscle seems to reside — the major muscle are the
upbeat pop songs, since it is them
that provide the maximum contrast between the words and the music, and where
there's more contrast, there's more strife, more thrill, more Life Pursuit. Is
this an improvement over Dear
Catastrophe Waitress? Not necessarily: although the high points may be a
little bit higher, the overall consistency is about the same level. But it
seems to show more confidence and self-assurance, and, above all, understanding
of the fact that when you whine through laughter, it is sometimes liable to
produce more effect than when you whine through whining. In any case, this is
clearly yet another thumbs up; and particular kudos for the boldness with
which Stuart comes out to say what he has to say, much of which would be
ideologically unacceptable for the average indie kid — which just goes to show
that Murdoch, of all people, has managed to outgrow the indie kid complex, and
step into a more exquisite, if also provocative, pair of shoes.
Check "The Life Pursuit" (CD) on Amazon
Check "The Life Pursuit" (MP3) on Amazon
"..... nor the hard rockers so far, of which there are several (... ʽWhite Collar Boyʼ ... illustrating ...)
ReplyDeleteOr how words lose their meaning. White Collar Boy is about as hard as hair gel.
Maybe he means hard by Belle and Sebastian standards?
DeleteBlues are Still Blue is good, but one of the tracks you slagged off (Act of the Apostle) has the actual best chorus Stuart has ever written. Listen again please; it's like the ideal of the perfect 'heavenly' indie pop chorus made manifest.
ReplyDelete(besides, how are you going to claim the 'major musical muscle' doesn't reside in a track with a piano line of that quality?)
ʽThe Blues Will Be Blueʼ (...) you actually start a-thinkin' about what it is that you're chanting — (...) and how the only thing that is permanent is a sense of deep shit. Happy singalong, brother.''
ReplyDeleteWhoa George, do you need a hug or something?