Tomorrow the world will be a better place. But tonight, witty folk-rockers Belle and Sebastian perform at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, promoting their new album, Dear Catastrophe Waitress. But B&S purists be forewarned: Waitress marks a stark departure from the group's signature ethereal chamber-pop style. With their longstanding cellist Isobel gone, Belle and Sebastian were forced to generate a new style relying more on peppy guitar than lingering strings.
Produced by Trevor Horn (Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Tatu), the album is bouncier, pop-pier, and more polished than past Belle and Sebastian records. The songs on Waitress perhaps do not have the reflective appeal of their angst infused landmark song "Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying" or "If You're Feeling Sinister." But they do hold their own charm, if only because Belle and Sebastian have kept their listeners along in the approach to their new style; the group has always alluded to a purer rendition of 1960s pop in their other albums.
"Step into My Office, Baby" and the title track, "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" kick off the album, and 1960s pop aside, they are disconcertingly catchy. One wonders if the band is a cheap imitation of the greatness it once was. However, "If She Wants Me" should satiate the purists' hunger as singer Stuart Murdoch croons, "If I Could Do Just One Near Perfect Thing I'd Be Happy". This track could have easily been Fold Your Hands Child, and it comes as a comfort to those fans who enjoyed B&S as they used to be.
Belle and Sebastian's songs of old allowed the listener to be transcended to a surreal pop-folk world where it makes perfect sense to feel giddy, obsessed, bored, and lonely all at once. They remedied sadness with melancholy.
Now, the band unabashedly pushes forward, into material ? la the Carpenters and the traditional pop and soul music the group used to only hint at. "If You Find Yourself Caught In Love" is a perfect example of Belle and Sebastian's new pop tinge and perks up the latter half of the album after "Lord Anthony," which seems to pay tribute to "Mary Jo" and other early material.
These Scottish kids always have managed to have a sinister sense of humor, and now the instrumentals seem to be having a bit of fun as well. Although the music might be upsettingly mainstream for some fans, it is still quite entertaining. In "I'm a Cuckoo", one might even be tempted to start singing "The Boys Are Back in Town," but whoops... wrong song.
The group's lyrics peak with the fun folk-romp "Piazza, New York Catcher". This track features Murdoch accompanied by a lone acoustic guitar, questioning Piazza's preferences of the sexual variety. Murdoch sings, "Elope with me Miss Private and we'll sail around the world/ I will be your Ferdinand and you my wayward girl/...Oh elope with me in private and we'll set something ablaze/ A trail for the devil to erase".
B&S are entirely loveable with their quiet resolution to provide the world with desperately needed innovative music. And they do this without self-promoting themselves or appealing to major labels.
If you go: Belle and Sebastian perform at the Orpheum Theatre tonight at 7:30. Rasputina opens, tickets are $30.
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