Goff's Pick of the Week- If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle and Sebastian

Belle and Sebastian are a band with a lot of albums. And who can blame them? They have been at it since the nineties after all, and being among the top Scottish bands (which is a more impressive feat than you would think) they certainly have carved a little bit of a name for themselves. Anecdotally I can remember when I first came upon Belle and Sebastian. It was a few years back, and I was spending a few days in a place that shall not be named with some people that you don’t know. It was awful. Anyway I remember putting Pandora Radio on, and I can’t remember what station, but suddenly the song Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying came on and I was hooked. Now lets recount the details of that story I just told you. I was at a place. It was awful. I heard Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying. I was hooked. While that may not seem like a lot of information to really grasp why the song stuck with me so, it is that type of superficial relatability that makes Belle and Sebastian so easy to latch on to. And that’s what makes If You’re Feeling Sinister so great, its not as the title would suggest for the hardcore, its more for anyone who wants something to snicker at.

At the song level, each track is very well balanced comprising of a wide variety of instruments that jump dance and jangle along with the beat. They blend together well, bass and guitar, piano and violins, trumpets and harmonica. The songs do an excellent job of filling all of the available space on record, swallowing up the singers voice which might be lost entirely if not for the originality of his sound and the creativity of his lyrics. Even during vocal breaks where all the instruments and the vocal boils down to whispers you can still make out three or four different instruments. Despite the sheer number of different instruments on each recording the consistency of each track is phenomenal. With acoustic guitar serving just as well in fills as electric, with piano taking the place of bass and guitar, with violin leads being replaced by horns and harmonica, it is amazing that the songs sound as consistant as they do. With that though comes the trap of fast song slow song, and while If You’re Feeling Sinister does suffer from that a bit it is nothing that the lyrics don’t overcome.

And the lyrics. Remember what I mentioned earlier about this album being one to snicker at? Whoever writes Belle and Sebastian’s lyrics (that’s right, I’m not even going to go to Wikipedia to find out who does, you can find out for your damn self if you want to)  is devilishly witty, the kind of witty that probably got him/her beat up in high school often. Lyrics abound on this Belle and Sebastian more so than on any other album, lyrics fill absolutely every nook and cranny of every song. What I mean is that while the songs do fall into verse chorus verse chorus, there rarely is any space between the versus and the chorus, and instrumental breaks are few and far between. With so much time to fill it’s a good thing their lyricist has plenty to say. Take this verse from the title track:

Hilary walked to her death because she couldn't think of anythin' to say
Everybody thought that she was boring, so they never listened anyway
Nobody was really saying anything of interest, she fell asleep
She was into S&M and Bible studies
Not everyone's cup of tea she would admit to me
Her cup of tea, she would admit to no one
Her cup of tea, she would admit to me
Her cup of tea, she would admit to no one

Or this one from the track Seeing Other People:

You're kissing your elbow
You're kissing your reflection
And you can't understand why all the other boys
Are going for the new, tall, elegant rich kids
You can bet it is a bitch, kid
But if they don't see the quality then it is apparent that
You're going to have to change
Or you're going to have to go with girls
You might be better off
At least you’ll know where to put it

The songs are most consistent lyrically in that they have the sense of humor, and most of the themes of what you might find in grade school, and that’s just fine. Belle and Sebastian harkens back to a simpler time, taking stabs at the church not because of political or religious reasons but because they think it is silly, mocking old dotting military men not because they are anti-government or anti-military, but because they are dotting and old. They try to point out the inherent silliness in the world around them. And it works. It makes the title sound a bit like an invitation rather than a threat, like If You’re Feeling Sinister… come on in.