D - dear catastophe waitress, belle and sebastian (2003)

i was a latecomer to belle and sebastian fandom, by virtue of the appearance of 'piazza, new york catcher' on the juno soundtrack. at face value an airy, cheerful song, with a restrained and delicate lyrical treatment on questions of love and confusion, the song attracted me. belle and sebastian seem to have a knack for taking sometimes complex, clever lyrics and making them fit. like almost everything about the juno soundtrack (perhaps the source of a separate entry at some later stage) the quirkiness of the song attracted me and more listening was clearly needed; the rest, as they say, is history, and i became a belle and sebastian convert.

this album combines aspects of twee '70s rock n roll (embodied in the upbeat, sugary sweet "if she wants me"), with idiosyncratic, cacophonic orchestral elements (such as throughout the title track). i like belle and sebastian's traditionally unconventional approach (can something be traditional and unconventional? i mean that traditionally b&s are unconventional) although i think this album is one of their more accessible. it's whimsical, unfalteringly happy (even when dealing with complex questions lyrically), and because of that one reviewer rates it as "the belle and sebastian album for people who never really liked belle and sebastian".

although i confess not having been a die-hard fan since their establishment, i do think our above reviewer is taking too hardline a viewpoint. i own two other b&s albums: the band's first album, the stripped-back, almost melancholic "tigermilk" (1996) and 2006's much more commercial effort, "the life pursuit". and i like these variants on the belle and sebastian sound as much as "dear catastophe waitress". to co-opt a b&s lyric ('you don't send me') "i'm a little bored" with reviewers who argue that a band's albums all need to sound the same. belle and sebastian have done what i think many bands struggle to do - matured, refined, and developed musically, while retaining their own unique sound. perhaps much of this can be credited to stuart murdoch's consistently charming voice and captivatingly complex lyrics. either way, i think it's interesting that 'juno' also features 'expectations' from "tigermilk" and the two tie together seamlessly.

i'm happy to stand behind dear catastrophe waitress as a refreshing little album, bubblegum and all. and i do really like belle and sebastian. so there.