Friday, June 14, 2013

Belle and Sebastian - Tigermilk

Belle and Sebastian have been consistently awesome over the course of their career. This being the case, there's really only one way to figure out which part of their career an album falls in: the loudness. When Belle and Sebastian first kicked things off, they were part of the "quiet is the new loud" indie aesthetic. Actually, they were and have been the best at this kind of indie. Their only real competition for the crown has been Damien Rice and Iron & Wine, both of which came along 6 and 7 years after this album. So yeah, let's just say that Belle and Sebastian rocked it quietly in their early years and did so better than anyone else (yes, even better than Kings of Convenience, who named an album Quiet is the New Loud).

Tigermilk is Belle and Sebastian's debut album, which is evident in Stuart Murdoch's near-whisper vocals. The best thing about this album is the fact that the band hit the ground running. Everything you know and love about Belle and Sebastian is here. There are finely-honed tunes with meticulous arrangements (seriously, every instrument, harmony, and lyric works to form a cohesive and perfectly-blended whole. Not a strand is out of place on this album) and an almost Wes Andersonian balance, with no single element overshadowing any other. Hearing a band to come out of nowhere with this kind of vision and execution is both remarkable and commendable.

Baleeted? No.


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