Confessions of a middle-aged drama king

Stuart Murdoch knows from adolescent identity crisis. As the leader of Scottish folk-pop bookworms Belle and Sebastian, he's lisped the prematurely jaded journal jottings of the precocious characters in his songs for close to a decade. If at times he's overindulged the brats, well, how better to reveal the insecurities behind their kinky, highfalutin boasts? But the 37-year-old Murdoch has somewhat less perspective on B'n'S's own identity crisis. After a cumbersome attempt to institute a songwriting democracy in 2000 with Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant, band member Isobel Campbell departed, following Stuart David, who had already left. Three years later Murdoch brought on producer Trevor Horn, who dressed up Dear Catastrophe Waitress in a glitzy wardrobe of '60s pop frippery.

At times amazing

While not my favorite B&S album, TLP features some VERY good tracks (ESPECIALLY the first two). I was blown away by We Are The Sleepyheads - I LOVE the femme staccato. The rest left me somewhat unimpressed. I could hear 70's (particularly The Grass Roots) styles throughout and it's a good try, but it doesn't stand up well with previous recordings.

Best of this year thus far

Let me just say that whatever 2006 produces, this is among the cream of the crop. It's their downright/hands down most accessible album, from "White Collar Boy" to "The Blues are still Blue" to "Sukie in the Graveyard" these are rock and roll jams that can't be overlooked, no matter what you heard or didn't hear about B and S, it's this one that'll convince you they're on to something, the music just has that aged quality that so much new music lacks. This is some rockin' well written tunes in the spirit of Beatles, Beach Boys, Smiths. If you're new to them, then "The Boy with The Arab Strap", "If You're Feeling Sinister", "Push Barman to Open Old Wounds" are good places to find more of this good stuff