Scottish outfit Belle and Sebastian have to be one of the more unlikely success stories in the alt.rock realm – their brand of baroque indie-pop has made earned them substantial cult status on both sides of the Atlantic, and also a Brit Award (for which they famously beat pop non-entities Steps and 5IVE).
I became a fan with 2003’s superb Dear Catastrophe Waitress, the centrepiece of which was the lyrical masterpiece ‘Piazza, New York Catcher’. Featuring just front man Stuart Murdoch accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, the skewed love-letter-come-travelogue managed to work in references to the titular Mets baseball player, Ferdinand Magellan and ‘60s psych-rockers The Left Banke – all in just three minutes. Gloriously – thanks to its inclusion on the Juno sountrack – the song’s haunting melody and ingenious words ended up on a platinum selling album that topped the US charts.
On Write About Love, Mr Murdoch and co mine a familiar groove, albeit with some curveballs in the mix. The excellent, Stereolab-like ‘Come On Sister’ is an analogue bubblebath brimming with Moog keyboards and vintage synths, while ‘I Want To The World To Stop’ sees the group kicking into an irresistible motorik rhythm. Elsewhere, the title track is a beautiful slice of Motown soul, ‘I’m Not Living In The Real World’ is up-tempo rocker with echoes of Bowie’s Velvets tribute ‘Queen Bitch’, and ‘The Ghost Of Rock School’ boasts a memorable, Bacharach-esque trumpet solo.
Overall, however, it’s not as strong as ...Waitress, and there definitely isn’t a track I adore as much as ‘Piazza’. But, hey, there are undeniably some fine tunes, and as always with Belle and Sebastian albums, the portrait on the cover is a winner. Perhaps twee shall overcome, after all.
Key track: ‘Come On Sister’