Belle And Sebastian
Dear Castastrophe Waitress

While the first half of their six-album output represents the life of the nervous, self-doubting teenager, latter works have seen the band blossoming and growing up into confident twenty-somethings. Musically, the Scots have moved away from their trademark twee, pared-down sound to a lush, orchestrated West Coast summery affair. It’s just as beautifully attended-to, but substantially different, especially the fantastic album closer ‘Stay Loose’ which sounds unlike anything they’ve ever done or the Thin Lizzy-aping ‘I’m A Cuckoo’. It may alienate the most fervent but it will undoubtedly be appreciated by many more.

Lyrically, gay baseball players, put-upon waitresses and bullied school children all feature, maintaining Stuart Murdoch’s ability to extract the saddest of themes from the most ordinary of subjects. The danger for B&S was that they would become trapped in a world of knee socks and introspection; the reality is that they’ve produced their best album since ‘Boy With The Arab Strap’, while proving that they can cut it in the world of well-adjusted adults.