Belle and Sebastian “The Life Pursuit”

CD review

Posted on Feb. 13, 2006, at 12:00 a.m.

Belle and Sebastian

“The Life Pursuit”

Matador Records 2006

I met the Belle and Sebastian folks once. I was a tech monkey for a music festival they were playing in Spain. I didn’t know what to tell them, so I bummed a cigarette even though I didn’t smoke, and I told them this: “You know, I have a girlfriend, and she’s usually kind of sad, but when she listens to your music she hops. It’s only with your music. So, I want to thank you for making the only music that can make my girlfriend hop.”

That sentence is also a perfect review of almost any Belle and Sebastian record. The songs can get sleepy toes tapping as well as any, and subversively throw in lyrics on subjects such as getting beaten up for being gay or skipping Sunday school. Taking influences from such 60s lesser-knowns as Donovan or Tyrannosaurus Rex, the band would fit perfectly into any summer of love soundtrack, although with a greater degree of melancholy. Imagine, if you will, a slightly overcast beach party from the summer of love, and you will have the sound of Belle and Sebastian.

The new album, “The Life Pursuit,” is no different. Songs like “White Collar Boy” and “We Are the Sleepyheads” provide a great reason for sad kids to go pogo around their bedrooms. But hardcore fans may be surprised at just how much of this kind of thing is on the CD. Belle and Sebastian have always had a token dance party number, but usually the albums were filled with introspective, quieter tracks that provided the meat of the album. “The Life Pursuit” seems over-burdened with these songs. Tracks like “Song for Sunshine” are disappointments that leave one wishing for the solid emotional depth of the band’s earlier work.

Belle and Sebastian fans will certainly enjoy enough of this album to make a purchase worthwhile. For newly interested parties, you might be happier with either “Tigermilk” or “If You’re Feeling Sinister.” But this album has too much hopping around for me to make it all the way through.

-Eryk Salvaggio

This entry was posted on Monday, February 13th, 2006, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.