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Time has revealed Belle & Sebastian’s reputation for a rather wimpy indieness to be more the result of their relative inexperience than any real predilection for twee juvenilia. On their seventh album, The Life Pursuit, we find these errant Scots further building on the surprisingly muscular, Trevor Horn-produced sound of 2003’s Dear Catastrophe Waitress, delving into the sound of ‘70s glam and tarrying ever further from the winsome folk with which they made their name. "White Collar Boy" bumps along on Glitter Band rhythms, vocalist Stuart Murdoch –forget the patchy democracy of mid-period B&S albums; Stuart is the leader here – narrating a tale of petty theft and chain-gang romance with a feisty charisma, while "The Blues Are Still Blue" is a stylish doff of the cap to T.Rex and the Television Personalities, albeit one that evokes the spirit both, but copies neither. And oh! What foul mouths. Whether Murdoch’s announcing "They are hypocrites, so fuck them too" before a warm brass break on "Dress Up In You", or telling the tale of a teenage tearwaway on "Sukie In The Graveyard" ("She liked to hang out in the art-school/She didn’t enrol, but she wiped the floor with all the arseholes"), it’s the sound of a Belle & Sebastian that’s matured in the most agreeably immature way.--Louis Pattison Amazon.co.uk Review
Strong album and not as fey as you might expect
Their image is very fey and soft but they are probably a lot more forceful and rockier than you might expect. They can play loud and up-tempo. Which they often do.
There are no female lead vocals on this 49 minute album which is disappointing. Though on the plus side there's no pointless spoken word track.
1. "Act of the Apostle" - 2:55 (3 out of 5 stars)
Reminds me of early Who surprisingly. The vocals are oddly similar to Roger Daltry on the more ballady tracks on A Quick One and The Who Sell Out. Nice enough song but nothing to get excited about.
2. "Another Sunny Day" - 4:04 (3 stars)
Perfectly pleasant but nothing special. It's a bit indistinct. Belle and Sebastian by numbers.
3. "White Collar Boy" - 3:20 (5 stars)
Electronic glam rock beat with a few squealing guitar parts. Good stupid fun. A real, proper, authentic pop song with some interesting lyrics.
4. "The Blues Are Still Blue" - 4:08 (3 stars)
Good solid up-tempo track but unremarkable. Repeats itself once or twice too many times.
5. "Dress Up in You" - 4:23 (3 stars)
More basic stripped down mid-tempo song. Male singer sings from the point of view of a woman. Has some trumpet on it. Better than average but I can't get too excited about it.
6. "Sukie in the Graveyard" - 3:00 (4 stars)
Up-tempo near rock song with a great hammond keyboard sound. The guitar is quite piercing at times. Works an oddly funky bass lead groove at the end.
7. "We Are the Sleepyheads" - 3:33 (3 stars)
The songwriting seems a bit so-so but it has a great guitar on it when it gets to let rip. A minor song and close to filler.
8. "Song for Sunshine" - 4:06 (3 stars)
Funky keyboard that makes me think of 70's disco. Even conjures up the idea of Steely Dan playing a groove based Led Zeppelin track like "Misty Mountain Hop". Sounds good musically but the lyrics are poor and generic.
9. "Funny Little Frog" - 3:08 (3 stars)
Good, loud, forceful song. Notch above average but doesn't achieve lift off.
10. "To Be Myself Completely" - 3:17 (3 stars)
Unremarkable track. Nothing about it stands out. Too pleasant to be bad. Close to filler.
11. "Act of the Apostle II" - 4:20 (3 stars)
Okay song that feels like it could have been so much more.
12. "For the Price of a Cup of Tea" - 3:19 (4 stars)
Simple melodic song.
13. "Mornington Crescent" - 5:40 (2 stars)
Fairly banal mid-tempo track. Nothing interesting happens on it and it drags on too long. Weakest track on the album.
I like to make EP playlists out of albums on my iPod. Tracks 3, 5, 6 and 12 made the cut.
If you like this then you might like Someone To Take You Home by The Long Blondes and Rattlesnakes by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions.
A beautiful poppy classic!
Belle and the boys and girls have come up with a drifty tuneful rocky gem of an Album! I'm listening to it now and every time I play it I always feel better! The blues are still blue just makes me smile and funny little frog! Not so beautiful as Boy with an Arab Strap or Lazy painter Jane but damn Close!! By the way I don't use the word beautiful to describe musc very often!!
Alan D. Evans, 2009-07-09Growing Up Gracefully
One should really spare a thought for some of the other bands who tiptoed onto the scene at the same time as B&S. Take pause as most of them are defunkt and few that are still going seem to be growing in popularity. B&S are probably more high profile now than they were after winning that BRIT all those years ago...
Truth is (and here come dozens of unhelpful votes) that I've always felt that Stuart Murdoch is the strongest element and Isobel Campbell was always the weakest link for me. Murdoch seems to have finally made the descision to properly lead the band and, second time out, really has nailed it thanks to not sharing songwriting duties. What results is a much more cohesive record and B&S are all the better for it. The writing is funny, bright, happy and accessible. I'm not sure which upsets the hardcore the most but I simply see this as a man developing and growing in stature as a songwriter. I'm sure that if he'd released this as a solo album some of the frustrations noted here by others would be admiration.
From the lovely piano lines of "The Act Of The Apostle" onwards there is a brightness about this. It's a development from the last album primarily because there were times on the last one it all felt a little forced. None of this feels forced. The singles are all pop inflected and veer from the almost sunshine pop of "Funny Little Frog" to the gentle glam of "White Collar Boy". Personally I'd have put "Song For Sunshine" out as it has a-sunrise-on-a-beach-after-a-night-at-a-rave feel about it. Then there's the two acts of the apostles which (although I'm an athiest myself) seem to compelling hint at Murdoch's own faith. It's no bad thing at all.
In truth this is a coherent, well written, nicely produced album with a good many highlights. The sound of a band that's still moving their sound forward and is all the better for it. Long may it continue.
Different, but the same.
As much as I adore B&S's early work (my favourite album is their second, followed by the early Jeepster EPS), you cannot stay 16 forever. B&S have to grow up. How many fey songs about bedsits with scratchy guitars can they write. These people are musicians. They are not Robbie Williams churning out what they think the fans want. They are artists remaking the world in their image. You are entitled not to enjoy the music but you cannot tell them they are wrong. I have been listening to this album for some months now and it has just grown and grown and grown. It is miles ahead of the patchy and over produced DCW. The Life Pursuit is nothing if not a 24 carat gold pop classic. But, the musicianship! The playing! Listen to it on headphones once or twice - cycling on a sunny morning or walking to the newsagent. Another Sunny Day is exquisite, and as quintessentially B&S as Get Me Away From Here... or anything from Tigermilk. The only low point is Song For the Sunshine which is just badly written pap. This should have been left off and the album would have been a nice round 12 songs. This band is growing, and how. Richard Colbert has never sounded so good. It's like they've hired Jimmy Cobb or "Philly" Joe Jones or something (nice!). This is a marvellous album. Nothing this year has topped it yet and 2007 is on the way. Album of the year! Album of the year! Altogether now: 'You're my picture on the wall, you're my image in the hall, you're the one I'm talking to, when I'm coming home from school...'
S. Murphy, 2006-09-20Le Pastiche De La Bourgeoisie
I'm not sure this is really moving forward. I bought "Push barman to open old wounds" at about the same time as this and it's a much more interesting listen.
Executive Dad, 2006-09-15