Belle and Sebastian -

Date: September 1998
Release: MATADOR # 311
Cover Art: view / download
Buy the Album

After two stunning albums and a string of strong EPs, word of mouth ravings had elevated Belle & Sebastian to the deserved status of cult icons. Despite high expectations, fans and critics have every right to be shocked by the higher brilliance achieved by the Scottish septet on their third album, The Boy With The Arab Strap. From the ecstatic “Dirty Dream No. 2″ to the Smith’s-like elegance of “It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career,” leader Stuart Murdoch’s potent mixture of kitch, yearning, innocence, and wit has never been more fully realized. These are fascinatingly catchy songs of the gentlest texture, resonating with delicate vocals and lush melodies of incomparable depth and power. Fellow members Isobel Campbell and guitarist Stuart Jackson are thankfully given room to make their own memorable contributions on three of the albums tracks.

Campbell’s breathy-sweet “Is It Wicked Not To Care” hints strongly at the melodic sensibilities of Nico and Astrud Gilberto, but without sacrificing any of the band’s signature sound. Her vocals add the crucial harmony need to turn Murdoch’s slightly Gothic “Sleep The Clock Around” into a haunting masterpiece. Jackson’s majestic “Seymour Stein” is a tongue-in-cheek lament about a forfeited meeting with a legendary record executive, wickedly insightful in its commentaries on the music business. The album ends with the grandiose “Rollercoaster Ride,” a song that gorgeously builds to a climax of proportions seldom seen since the Beatles closed Sgt. Peppers with “A Day In the Life.” Unlike most of the records sold today, the timeless music of Belle & Sebastian should prove to be as enduring as it is now endearing. Get it while it’s hot, so that you too can brag about it to your grandchildren someday.

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