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BELLE AND SEBASTIAN If You're Feeling Sinister (1996) 
Rating (Out of 10): 8.5 Stars Of Track And Field / Seeing Other People / Me And The Major / Like Dylan In The Movies / Fox In The Snow / Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying / If You're Feeling Sinister / Mayfly / Boy Done Wrong Again / Judy And The Dream Of Horses Taking their name from a French cartoon about a little girl and a dog, Belle and Sebastian were formed in Scotland as part of Stowe Music College business project. Their first album ‘Tiger Milk’ was recorded in the space of 3 days as part of that project and became a surprise hit which resulted in their career catapulting to an amazing start. A few months later the band get signed to a record label and ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’, their first ‘proper’ album is released in the same year. It was very much a whirlwind beginning for a band that would spend the next decade consistently churning out quality material. For the uninitiated, Belle and Sebastian are a bit like a cross between The Smiths and Simon and Garfunkel with a bit of Badly Drawn Boy thrown in for good measure. Their songs are mainly acoustic affairs, some piano led and others guitar dominated, with beautiful vocal harmonies, witty lyrics and a range of instrumentation. There is something very warm about the music of Belle and Sebastian; something very innocent and comforting. Stuart Murdoch’s voice is very delicate and unassuming and breeds familiarity. They write songs that you will come to love very quickly. The album opens with the spectacular ‘Stars of Track And Field’. Beginning very quietly with just Stuart’s vocals and an acoustic guitar, it gradually builds up into a vast array of harmonies and instrumentation. It is a fantastic song that also manages to get into my top 5 favourite lyrics of all time. “You liberated a boy I never rated and now he’s throwing discus for Liverpool And Widness’. It’s not quite up there with ‘If you ever need self-validation just meet me in the alley by the railway station’, but comes a close second! ‘Seeing Other People’ is a more upbeat, piano led track and has a very infectious melody which is instantly likeable. ‘Me and the Major’ follows on in a similar style and includes a fabulous harmonica. ‘Fox in the Snow’ is a quiet ballad which features a particularly good vocal from Murdoch and provides a very special moment on the album. Contrary to the title, ‘Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying’, is a very jaunty little track that makes you want to sway from side to side as you listen to it. The title track is another good song and provides another smiths-esque lyric - ‘She was into S & M and bible studies, not everybody’s cup of tea.” Overall, ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ is a very strong and highly ambitious album. Ambitious seems to be the best word to describe Belle and Sebastian. They are a band that doesn’t do anything by halves. The scope and range of this album is huge both in musical style and instrumentation. They’re very similar to Badly Drawn Boy in the variety of different instruments and sounds they use in just one album. In this way, their first ‘proper’ album was very daring, but their audacity definitely paid off and heralded a new, exciting talent, that possessed a new original sound, and that created a good, solid platform on which to build their career. Send A Comment BACK TO INDEX BACK TO MUSIC REVIEWS INDEX |
