Public Servant Lifestyle

The vast musical ensemble that is Glasgow’s Belle & Sebastian return with another mighty album.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress by Belle & Sebastian

Belle & Sebastian’s first album under the terms of their new deal with Rough Trade Records, Dear Catastrophe Waitress, is in the shops – and it’s not only the label that’s changed...It's the group's first outing without vocalist Isobel Campbell and was recorded with at-first-glance bizarre choice of Trevor Horn (Tatu/ABC/Frankie Goes To Hollywood) in the production chair, the record emerges as arguably the band’s most fully realised work to date.

It may be their fifth fully-fledged studio album, but – dripping with memorable pop moments and sumptuous arrangements - Dear Catastrophe Waitress is the first Belle & Sebastian record both able and likely to propel them beyond the realms of their ardent fan-base and out into the world at large.

Formed in an all-night café in Glasgow, January 1996 after Stuart Murdoch (singer/songwriter) and Stuart David (bass guitar) met on a government-training scheme. Recording some demos which were picked up by a Jeepster scout who was also taking part in the Stow College Music Business Course.

The course, run by ex-Associate Alan Rankine, produces and releases one record every year on the college label Electric Honey Records, usually a single. However in the case of Belle and Sebastian they had enough songs to record a whole album, and so the elusive Tigermilk was born. Recorded in three days and one thousand copies released on vinyl only, it now changes hands for up to £400 per copy.

Belle and Sebastian then signed to Jeepster in August and the critically acclaimed LP If You're Feeling Sinister was released November. The Support slot for the Tindersticks ICA Gigs, Followed by a headline show at the Borderline in early November brought the joys of Belle and Sebastian live to the south for the first time. The band then set about with the plan of spending the summer of 1997 releasing EP's, the first of these being Dog On Wheels on 28th April.

Demos

This release contained early demos of the band, previous to all the current members joining, including the demo version of The State I Am In. Mark Radcliffe had played the mastered Tigermilk version of this track relentlessly and for those without a copy of the vinyl masterpiece, the Dog EP appeased the fans thirst enough to put the single in at Number 59 on the singles chart.

Second EP Lazy Line Painter Jane, was released July 28 of that year, the week of a seminal Union Chapel gig in Islington, London. Despite the poor sound, the band had the crowd dancing in the aisles (and pews) of the chapel. For most, this gig was their first B&S gig and a religious experience was shared by all. The 'Lazy Jane EP narrowly missed the top 40, crashing in at number 41, much to Chris Geddes (keyboards) amusement, as he had made bets with Jeepster boss Mark Jones that it would not get in. The band played two more gigs on their mini tour of the south-west in Oxford and Colchester, preparing them for their American debut.

The 'Sinister LP had been licensed in North America by Virgin subsidiary label the enclave since February. Belle and Sebastian journeyed over to New York in September to take part in the CMJ (College Music Journal) festival. They played two gigs at the Angel Oransanz Foundation Centre For The Arts, an old chapel in Greenwich Village. The excitement levels were so high, parts of the ceiling decided to join the band onstage, as Belle and Sebastian - literally - brought the house down.

The band were also invited to play at the Barcelona BAM festival in late September. This time their venue was an ancient courtyard at the Plaza Del Rei, and under a starry moonlit sky, beneath the gaze of a thousand gargoyles they captivated, yet again, another audience.

3..6..9 Seconds Of Light was the last of the summer EP's, when the music press finally realised just how important B&S are, when both the Melody Maker and the NME made it their single of the Week. Despite the lack of radio play, it became the bands' first top 40 hit, debuting at number 32 on the charts.

'Arab Strap

1998 saw the release of The Boy With The Arab Strap, which became the biggest hit yet, hitting the charts at number 12, before disappearing without trace. The band disappeared too, but fortunately left a trace which led to the US and Europe on their first overseas tour.

Oh, and the band won 'Best Newcomer' at The Brit Awards, much to the chagrin of Dennis Waterman, whose re-mix of I Could Be So Good For You (Theme From Minder) was deemed ineligible on grounds of being shit. However, Waterman's tears turned to cheers the next year when he was presented with an honorary award for 'Best Thing To Happen To Rula Lenska'.

The fourth single This Is Just A Modern Rock Song was released, backed by the sublime Slow Graffiti.

1999 was a reasonably quiet year for the band. The only highlights were the re-release of Tigermilk and The Bowlie Weekender, Belle & Sebastian's own festival. Held at Pontin's Holiday Camp in Camber Sands, the festival featured Mercury Rev, Teenage Fanclub, Flaming Lips, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Mogwai and Broadcast among others, and spawned the All Tomorrow's Parties events.

The rest of the year, and the first half of 2000 saw the band locked up in CaVa with Tony Doogan, recording the songs that would eventually make up B&S' first Top Ten LP Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant. The accompanying single Legal Man was a Top 15 hit, and gave the band their first Top Of The Pops appearance, and their first brush with the law. It was a riotous appearance that degenerated into a blur of monkey butlers and roses.

LOOPER

The ever-expanding B&S line-up had a bit of a blow when Stuart David departed to concentrate on Looper and writing books. But it's alright. Playing the bass isn't exactly rocket science.

The members of the band took the rest of the year off to concentrate on other projects; Isobel's Gentle Waves; Mick with The Amphetameanies; Beans and Stevie with V-Twin and Richard with Snow Patrol.

They reconvened in January 2001 to record some new songs, again with Doogan. The first of these, Jonathan David, was released as a single on June 18th 2001, becoming a minor hit in the UK and a major hit in Brazil. The band celebrated by playing a 13-date tour of the UK, as well as sell-out trips to the USA, Spain, Japan and Brazil. Having survived various gruesome tour initiation tests, 'Belfast' Bobby Kildea was poached from V-Twin, joining the band as full-time bassist. He lacks the boy David's dry, cutting wit, but is somewhat easier on the eye.

The second and final single of the year was called I'm Waking Up To Us, and was released in November 2002. It was the first time the band had collaborated with a producer; the producer in question being Mike Hurst, the man behind several great '60s hits, and loads of dodgy '80s stuff.

Todd Solenz

Large chunks of 2002 were also spent recording Storytelling, the soundtrack album to Todd Solenz's film of the same name. As it turns out, a lot of the album doesn't feature in the film, but the film at the very least, inspired all the music. Alright?

The rest of 2002 was spent on the road, or so it seemed, performing shows in the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, the USA, Canada, Norway, Germany, Greece, Portugal and Spain. Sadly there was another casualty along the way; Isobel was the next to falter, returning home midway through the US tour. She’d never tried to pretend the rock’n’roll life suited her, and the cons had started to outweigh the pros. So that was that.

Another significant change occurred, with the band leaving Jeepster Records. Times had changed for both parties and there was a mutual understanding that everyone would be better off trying something new. As far as B&S were concerned, that something new was Rough Trade Records. For Jeepster it was ceasing to release B&S records, in favour of a long-planned B&S DVD compilation.

One of the highlights of the year was in December, when B&S went to London to play at John Peel’s Christmas party. Some new songs were aired, and a drunken choir joined the band for some carols. For many though, the climax was a unique take on The Twelve Days Of Christmas where Richard finally got to do his bird impressions.

Trevor Horn

Which brings us to 2003. Recorded at Hook End Manor in deepest Oxfordshire, and mixed in West London, the new batch of songs – previously showcased on an overseas tour – and heard in the UK as part of John Peel’s festive shows last Christmas, at which the group provided the live entertainment – may be their best yet. Positively zinging with West Coast summery hooks, tight, witty writing and striking melodies.

The surprise pairing with producer Trevor Horn came about by the slightly prosaic process of Horn approaching the Belles and them doing a meeting out of mildly piqued interest. Within minutes of talking to him, however, they were sold. It is important to note that the album represents something of a departure for the producer, as he reportedly normally only allows the talent into the studio to do the vocal and then layers on everything else personally in their absence.

Despite the change in production process (the band previously produced all their own tracks) Dear Catastrophe Waitress is still resolutely a Belle & Sebastian record, full of their trademark tender, joyous Scottish pop, but this record displays a newly-found confidence at the band’s heart.

Thin Lizzy

So what’s it like? Well, the initially Clashy garage vibe of Stay Loose is matched against non-sequiturial electro elements and duelling guitars to make an unlikely but riveting six minute-plus epic. Duelling guitars of another colour raise their necks in I’m A Cuckoo is an intended – though unlikely seeming - nod to the genius of Thin Lizzy. But instead of Lynott’s (admittedly compelling) machismo here we get Stuart Murdoch’s altogether sweeter more reflective take on relationship disintegration. Both funny and heartrending at the same time the track contains the immortal couplet: "I’d rather be in Tokyo/I’d rather listen to Thin Lizzy-o".

"I was telling Stevie about my hopes forI’m a Cuckoo," said Stuart at the time of mixing the album. "At one point I said to Trevor that I didn’t care about the other tracks on the record as long as we ‘got’ this one. I guess I wanted it to be Don’t Fear The Reaper and Make Me Smile and Virginia Plain and There Is A Light’ all rolled into one. And I’m just realising, it ain’t going to happen."

But it is this thwarted questing after pop perfection, which keeps them driving forward. "I should learn my lesson, but then I never learn my lesson, and neither does Stevie. I guess if we ever learned our lesson we would lay down our tools and go boating instead. Do something else. But we’ve still got work to do. I can see the sadness in his eyes and he can see the madness in mine.

"Pretty much if each track doesn’t bring me to tears with relief and pleasure combined, they don’t get on the record," Stuart says. "I’ve got a pretty low tear threshold, it must be said, but at least you know it’s costing us something."

Workplace Politics

Track Roy Walker combines 50’s rock-and-roll, flickers of free form jazz and amazing Beach Boys harmonies. Further good vibrations arise in the first single, Step Into My Office Baby, with its saucy lyrics about 'pushing for a raise' in the work environment, and other similar thinly-veiled double entendres about dictation and 'taking down everything she said'.

Elsewhere, Piazza, New York Catcher - inspired by Stuart’s deep love of baseball - asks question everyone else was avoiding asking by enquiring 'are you straight or are you gay?' of the Mets’ legendary and somewhat ‘ambiguous’ star. Interestingly enough considering the producer’s reputation, it is the band’s original 4-track demo of this track you will be hearing on the record.

Orchestral

Title track Dear Catastrophe Waitress, meanwhile, somehow manages to shoehorn a ludicrously big orchestral arrangement into its two minutes of off-the-wall strangeness. Sarah takes lead vocal on her own Asleep On A Sunbeam, though car or heavenly light is never entirely clear. In Lord Anthony the Belles deliver a song written by Stuart in the days before B&S, which has long been a mainstay of bootlegging fans across the globe, and here it finally gets the lush strings it has always deserved.

In the end, over-running and up against it, the mixing of Dear Catastrophe Waitress was finished with Stuart in his pyjamas, since all the band’s clothes and possessions had long since been sent home to Glasgow when the session was scheduled weeks previously.

"It’s always going to be hard to put rich and abstract thoughts into words, but I suppose that's what I'm trying to do when I write a song. A good one at least," says Stuart. "It starts with a feeling, just this odd feeling that springs up from nowhere, and I clumsily try turn the feeling into a song, because I want to pass the feeling on.

"I don't mean to claim that these thoughts are exclusive to me. I'm sure everyone gets them, and what people choose to do with them is unique and personal. Maybe you store them up, maybe you think about them when you're trying to get to sleep, maybe they're in your top ten daydreams when you're in a boring meeting and your eye is drawn to the window and the sky beyond."

The quite mighty Belle & Sebastian are: Stuart Murdoch – vocals, guitar, piano Stevie Jackson – guitar, vocals Sarah Martin – vocals, violin Chris Geddes – piano, keyboards Richard Colburn – drums Mick Cooke – trumpet, guitar, bass guitar Bob Kildea – bass guitar, guitar.

Following rave notices for their recent huge outdoor US shows, the playful Glaswegian seven-piece have lined up their most extensive British tour yet for early December, which includes no fewer than three nights at the London Astoria.

First single, Step Into My Office Baby, will be out in November. Setting off at a right old clip, it's another suitably bizarre and beguiling addition to the B&S canon, being something of a paean to West Coast harmonies and structure, by way of a lost script for Confessions Of A Male Secretary. As with previous Top 20 single Legal Man songwriter Stevie Jackson seems concerned with taking the language and jargon of a world outside his experience and fetishising it for our amusement.

Everybody knows that the office is a hotbed of sexual tension but how many people would write a song about it? Well, now we can be thankful for the writing of a really good one on the subject.

Step Into My Office, Baby, the single, includes two brand new exclusive (and non-Trevor Horn produced) B-sides – Love On The March and Desperation Made A Fool Of Me. Love On The March (recorded at Parkgate Studios, Battle by Darren Allison and mixed at Cava by Tony Doogan) furthers the Latino direction first explored on the band’s 2002 Storytelling soundtrack, and is perhaps inspired by their recent visit to (and huge success in) Brazil.

Whatever, in typical B&S style, the lyrical subject matter remains resolutely distinct from images of the "tall and tanned, young and lovely", concentrating on the somewhat more Scottish issues of drinking, religion and football (oh, hang on a minute...). In fact, Love On The March is about sectarianism, the Orange marching season and love across the divide. It’s great...

Desperation Made A Fool Of Me (recorded at Cava by Tony Doogan) is a lovely song of plaintively plucked guitar and elegant rising piano about, well, what do you think it’s about..?

Step Into My Office, Baby features the usual idiosyncratic sleeve photography by Belles vocalist Stuart Murdoch. Cover stars this time are legendary Belles bassist/guitarist Mr Bob Kildea and Glasgow hipsters Roxanne Clifford & Hannah Robinson.

Following hot on the heels of the album, the band’s previous label Jeepster have also just released an encyclopaedic DVD of their entire career to date, entitled Fans Only it’s a corker of a release - available from all fine music retailers.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress is out now, on vinyl and CD, from Rough Trade.

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