1) The Stars of Track and Field; 2) Seeing Other People; 3) Me and the Major; 4) Like Dylan in the Movies; 5) Fox in the Snow; 6) Get Me Away from here, I'm Dying; 7) If You're Feeling Sinister; 8) Mayfly; 9) The Boy Done Wrong Again; 10) Judy and the Dream of Horses
First shot at an actual attempt to start a career in music. Still has all the hallmarks of a thoroughly pleasant B&S experience, but maybe they should have waited more than five months from Tigermilk.
Key tracks: "The Stars of Track and Field", "Seeing Other People", "Me and the Major"
Tigermilk was little more than a glorified university project, but it captured far more attention than Stuart Murdoch and co could have ever imagined. Critical acclaim followed, labels got interested and everyone wanted more from this dainty little pseudo-group, and Murdoch decided to turn Belle and Sebastian into a real band. If You're Feeling Sinister was recorded quickly after signing up with Jeepster - their second album within a year, released within five months from Tigermilk - and it's a response to the new reality. It's a more seriously composed record, with a more nuanced take on the style the group won people over with on Tigermilk; a real debut album from a real band.
If You're Feeling Sinister leaves me a little colder than it probably should, and some of that can probably be blamed on the haphazard way I have navigated across the B&S discography, with this album somehow being one of the last ones I heard from the group (even after the b-side compilations). While a major milestone for Belle and Sebastian in terms of establishing their early signature sound, by the time I personally got around to it I had heard everything it had to offer before already and I had heard it in more interesting ways. Tigermilk may lack the finesse but it in its place it had a whole load of quirky charm, as well an unexpected off-beatness to it that If You're Feeling Sinister deliberately avoids. You won't find curveballs like the debut's "Electronic Renaissance" to an even remote degree here, and instead everything more off-the-cuff was released on the EPs surrounding Sinister. The following couple of full-length elements would then further develop this particular sound while including some of those unexpected elements to a more balanced degree. In comparison to its surrounding releases If You're Feeling Sinister sounds practically a tad plain, a work taking shape but still in progress - and I can't shake that feeling off.
It's also clear that the whole thing was written, recorded and released within a couple of months. It would be downright impossible for Murdoch to ever write anything genuinely subpar - he's one of the most perfectly pleasant songwriters around and even in his weaker moments there's still something thoroughly heartwarming in the way he gently plays with his melodies. He makes irresistible melodies sound like the easiest thing in the world and it always works to some extent. There is no way you can even remotely dislike If You're Feeling Sinister if you're in the slightest into Murdoch's tropes or the whole "shy bookish university boys blushing hard about shy bookish university girls" vibe Belle and Sebastian's early days were rife with. in general, Thus, If You're Feeling Sinister is a perfectly fine album in what it sets out to do - twee indie pop songs with a sharp wit and lyrics with hidden twists for the observant listener - but taken as songs, one-by-one, its batting average isn't particularly striking. Most of the big hitters are encountered right from the start, with "The Stars of Track and Field" being the album's definitive song that aims to be the big opening woah moment to impress from the first step and "Seeing Other People" and "Me and the Major" offering the album's strongest melodies and memorable hooks, but after that it becomes a series of thoroughly cosy but not particularly memorable songs - and I wouldn't necessarily raise those three highlights either anywhere near the band at their best. It's obvious that despite its humble beginnings Tigermilk got the best parts of the early material, and wheeling out If You're Feeling Sinister so soon gives the impression of needless rushing before they had the right material in tow.
I can still readily admit to enjoying If You're Feeling Sinister and you can't deny the growth the band exhibit here. Even if there's no flights of fancy present as a possibly intentional desire to keep both feet firmly in the ground, the way If You're Feeling Sinister goes about its concepts and songwriting tropes feels more focused. It takes a step away from Tigermilk's still a little untamed imagination into something consciously more carefully laid out: there's many a moment here where it sounds like a band hard at work trying to up their game. The intent is there, it's just simply the songs that let it down. As much as I listen to this, I still struggle to remember most of it by the time the album has quieted down; the latter half is particularly guilty about this to the point that it's remained as a list of titles with barely a trace left in my mind (for what it's worth, the title track is by far the best song in the final stretch solely on the strength of its incredibly simple but deadly effective title drop moment). This probably comes off harsher than it is in reality because Sinister is an alright album without any really genuine downsides, and it's full of aspects that make early Belle and Sebastian so charming. There just isn't that much meat around its twee bones when compared to everything else released by the band.
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