The Life Pursuit

A record review

If you listen to the entire catalog of Belle & Sebastian as I have done many times thanks to the ipod, no song sounds like the one next to it, though the band has a very distinct sound. The Life Pursuit is no exception. If they want to throw in a Blues song, or a bunch of techno beeps and boops, even nods to '70s AM radio, they feel free to do so with out any concern or care that they are straying from their "sound". They have become less cryptic and less morose as the years and constant line-up changes have gone by, but the music has not suffered for it. It has only gotten better. This is only the second album produced by an outsider, and you can tell that Tony Hoffer is letting others in the band besides Stuart Murdoch have a say in what gets done. The songs are more polished without sounding over-mixed. Unlike past albums, when a track starts off not as wonderful as I would like, it soon proves me wrong. Nothing is worth skipping over.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress heralded their exit from shy, reclusive melodrama to extroverted pop sensations, and this change worried some of the die-hards like myself. DCW tested the waters with one toe, but refused to jump all the way in, and I thought they might pull a Smiths on us, and languish in the shallows, flopping around until they finally died, only to be re-born as an over-cooked dinner. Was Morrissey great? Yes. As great as the Smiths? No fucking way. The Life Persuit has not only jumped in, but set up an undersea bio-dome ala Sealab, where they can live forever. This new found confidence has come with everything associated with it, including touring, radio appearances, and actually allowing interviews and public appearances, something that they rarely did in the past, adding to their mystique. This was a main reason why some of the fans cried foul, but the long awaited release doesn't justify the nail-biting. Every track can trace it's roots to an earlier incarnation, cementing the B&S "sound", but adding a lot as well. "Another Sunny Day" is a series of lyrical snapshots, and "Sukie in the Graveyard" is another in a long line of character studies. There are the standard meandering guitars and organ solos, poppy, happy drums, and backing vocals, along with the lyrics that always make your ears perk up, think: Did I really just hear that? All with Stuart's wonderful not-quite-whiney vocals that Colin Meloy hasn't yet mastered.

All in all a big Thumbs up from Jason.