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Amazon.co.uk Review
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
Review
To twee or not to twee, that is the question, and it's one that Belle and Sebastian have spent the last few years answering in the former.
Yet, as soon as the laidback bass of"Act Of The Apostle" opens this, their seventh album,you know something of an epiphany has taken place.
It could be the use of Beck's producer Tony Hoffer or the Californian rays of the recording sessions, but where once there was soppy indie, now there is solid sunshine pop.
It's not a complete departure, but for once, the quaint sensibilities don't overburden the tunes and the result, particularly on the insanely catchy "Funny Little Frog" and the chunky Bowie groove of "The Blues Are Still Blue", is an essential blend of quintessentially retro beats and fine storytelling. --Chris Long
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Those of you awaiting another 'If you're feeling sinister' are sadly going to be waiting for a long time. 'Life Pursuit' follows the previous albums more conventional approach to song writing, although there can be no mistaking Stuart Murdoch's dulcet tones it soon becomes clear listening to this record that Belle & Sebastian are a completely different band. Infact anyone hoping to call this album 'twee' will be pleasantly surprised, forthcoming single 'Funny Little Frog' is both charming and touching 'You're my girl and you don't even know it'. 'White Collar Boy' sounds like an indie take on the stomp of glam rock whilst the gently sloping 'Act of the Apostle Pt 2' has a melody reminiscent to 'Century of Fakers' intially anyway. Though the new album is another step away from the former glories it's still an album of fantastic quality. Aaaah, for the good old days. 'If you're going to grow up you got to do it on your own'. Quite.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Funny to see looking through previous reviews how much opinion can be divided by this CD. "The Life Pursuit" is very much a continuation of the direction taken in "Dear Catastrophe Waitress". It maybe doesn't have the same ultra-gloss production sheen, but this is as mainstream as you'll have ever heard B & S. None-the-less there are good songs on here, some excellent and no weak efforts. But perhaps they don't have the unique quirkiness that earlier recordings had, and those that established such a fanatical cult following.
Some familar B&S themes are here; Self-referential lyrical depreciation. Side references to religion. Musical inspiration taken from the 70s. Mainstream, but unmistakable. Equally noticable is that the band members are better musicians than ever. This is a band still on the way up, still changing, a band not yet devoid of new ideas.
I suppose it must hurt to see your own special obscure band take a direction that gets them attention outside their niche. I can't see any other reason for some of the review comments here. Common sense would suggest if you really only ever liked past B&S member Isabel Campbell's music, the best course of action is to buy a CD that she's on, not one she's not. It seems pointless to complain about her absense afterwards, never mind inventing unsavoury personal motivations for other band members based around her.
B & S are changing. They're still making good music. Join in or move on.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Absolute gold. Their best album to date, how do they keep on churning out these classics? This is one of those rare albums that you can listen to from track 1 straight through to track 13 without skipping, every track is excellent. My only quibble is the choice of single, I feel that there are many better tracks on the album that would have made a more comercially viable choice - but hey when where the Belles ever about that?! Sit back and enjoy a stunning run of form from the Glaswegians (and of course Bangor Bobby!)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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. Read more
Published on 29 July 2009 by BS on parade
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! Read more
Published on 9 July 2009 by Alan D. Evans
Growing 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. Read more
Published on 6 May 2008 by pjr
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. Read more
Published on 20 Sep 2006 by S. Murphy
Le 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.
Published on 15 Sep 2006 by Executive Dad
A national treasure.
I had the pleasure of seeing B&S during this year's Edinburgh festival on a beautiful Sunday evening in Princes' Street gardens with the back-drop of the castle. Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2006 by caitlin
Chill Out
This is a fabulous collection of memorable tunes. I am sorry to all the B&S aficionado's who have been reviewing on here as I have come to them late (last 3 years) but exploring... Read more
Published on 31 July 2006 by EKjambo
re-inventing. Oh yes, re-inventing
does not require many words. Most adventurous B&S album to date, by far. Best album? possibly, it really is this good. Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2006 by C. P. Robertson
Something Special
After hearing 'Arab Strap' on the radio years ago (probably on Peel) I have been checking out this special little band with great interest,thinking that after 6 albums... Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2006 by Mr. S. Berwick
Excellent
Probably their most consistent album since The Boy With The Arab Strap. Traditionalists may be disappointed, and there are still a couple of tracks which (at the moment) I find... Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2006 by S.Fraser
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