Index > What's Spinning - July 2024 > Re: What's Spinning - July 2024 > I keep on seeing that Belle And Sebastian album on the Music Babble Top 100 2005/2008 list and give it a respin
Posted by Tabernacles E. Townsfolk (@billstrudel) on Aug. 4, 2024, 9:24 a.m.
That’s actually a lot how I feel about the follow-up, The Boy With the Arab Strap, which is so beloved in indie-pop circles that there was (is?) a prominent band named after it. There’s a funny spoken-word thing in a funny Glaswegian accent that crescendoes* and bursts into a pop masterpiece without pause IIRC. Besides that, there’s not a lot going for it.
I haven’t heard If You’re Feeling Sinister in decades, ngl, but I remember it being pretty much banger after banger melody- and atmosphere-wise. It really hits its stride in the middle. But less than 6/15? If it comes off as a pop album with no tunes, it at least comes off as a pop album which means it should be pleasant enough and not actively bad.
Speaking of Belle and Sebastian, I have a low cringe tolerance when it comes to “educated” or “intelligent” lyrics in less pretentious music. “Incidents arose from circumstance”, Belle and Sebastian’s entire discography, and “I’m the bishop and I’ve come to claim you with my iron drum”. Paris 1919 is a pretty cringe album all things considered and it’s entirely the lyrics that do it in. I see you didn’t think much of it, either.
- I am using this word correctly.