Belle and Sebastian - What to Look For in Summer

Released in the final weeks of 2020, no doubt, the live album What to Look For in Summer is one of my favorite discs of the recent months.

Having presumably heard it all by the late 90s, Belle and Sebastian grabbed me hard. While most of my musical tastes like the Smiths were literate and fey, they were also undeniably rock based. Belle and Sebastian made music like they were in world where bands like Led Zeppelin and the Clash never existed.

Predicting where this band who started as a rather faceless collective would be 25 years later would have been next to impossible.

For me, the changes threw me for awhile, but I came to appreciate the new sound. It’s not a particularly unique insight. No one would have expected such an interactive live band.

But here over 23 songs from various locales, their personality shows through in what is a truly wonderful two disc set.

For me, the reason I love this album is that it has the same characteristics of what made the early band so good- wide-eyed, playful troubadours. Think Donovan or any number of late 60s/early 70s songwriters.

Do musicians still have that first album innocence in their live shows 30 years later. The Stones, the Kinks, U2, The Who, Robert Plant? (I don’t know. I’m asking. I never thought about it before).

So with a mix of vocalists and songs, and the band claiming inspiration from the great live 1970s Prog albums, no doubt the grand moment is as one might expect A seven and a half minute version of The Boy With The Arab Strap.

That said, with many possibilities, the song I’m going to share is an unlikely one. Step Into My Office, Baby was the opening single from the Trevor Horn produced 2003 album Dear Catastrophe Waitress- a sharp movement into the bands current style.

I don’t hate it- it’s got that poppy 1960s style like maybe something Divine Comedy would do, but I don’t love it, either- it’s a list of bad office sex jokes that seemed stale even before Matt Lauer and MeToo- even if the song generally flips the gender roles. However, it has my favorite moment of the set- a giddy moment like much of the rest of the set where the band switches out the lyric “burned out after Thatcher” with the new resident of 10 Downing Street.

Album Review: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis- Carnage

 I’m not sure what the expectations for Carnage (the 2021 album by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis) should be.

Released in the new release dead zone of February, it is the first release credited to the duo that hasn’t been motion picture related.

Of course, the lockdown created havoc for many things. Would this have been the germ for a Bad Seeds album or is this meant to be thought of differently as say Grinderman was.

Inevitably, music journos can overthink such stuff. Carnage has come out to near universal acclaim and it may be all of the above.

While there are no killer single cuts (where would you start-the opener “Hand of God” some sort of perverse dark jazz meets goth electronica is certainly the most arresting) or particular theme, Carnage seems a continuation of Ghosteen. While at the same time, it’s not a million miles removed from the duo’s soundtrack work (which I suppose as atmospheric as Ghosteen was, that’s no surprise either).

There are a few truths to unravel. First, even as prolific as he has been throughout his career, Cave really has never suffered much in terms of quality. Second, the listeners preference will determine enjoyment. Just read reviews to see what Cave albums are favorites. You will see a wide variety. While you would hardly consider Cave a Neil Young personality, there’s an incredible depth in his albums.

So, Carnage is a worthwhile album by any definition. Admittedly, it’s another step away from what I like best about the Bad Seeds. I doubt I will revisit it often. Yet, undeniably is still an arresting piece of art. Ultimately, it’s not for the fans to speculate, but for the artist to make their art, and this surely feels like the piece that Nick wanted to make now.

Things I am listening to: Buzzcocks

 Almost instantly on the first listen, Buzzcocks became one of my favorite bands. Their short lived career (76-81, three albums) places them in a category of bands that for a time could do no long (as far as peers, I’d throw The Jam and English Beat in there as well).

They also felt like the first punk band to reform after a break and release new material (I know, I know, the Damned, Wire and others might have a claim but it also never felt like they went away, and others who weren’t particularly memorable).

Which brings us to Trade Test Transmissions. An album that to my ears is as good as anything they had done, or at least as good as any band’s fourth album.

The album exists in a weird space. Primarily, because it was largely unheard; but also because reviews for it are all over the board. Allmusic gives it three stars, which means one day I will probably have to write a post to defend it, but others agree with me as it being essential.

One of the strengths of the comeback was Steve Diggle taking vocal duties on a few songs and providing a counterpoint to Shelley a la Mould/Hart, Strummer/Jones Mascis/Barlow and other duos.

From there, I followed the band religiously and bought all the releases as soon as they came out.

Besides a few rests and line up changes, the Buzzcocks mk. 2 are now just over 30 years and six albums in.

I have to say that my appraisal of each post-TTT album is the same- mild disappointment, the cover work generally fairly generic and if I associate a personality with an album it’s that of one of the specific label that they were on at the time. There was a carousel of labels too (IRS, GoKart, Merge, Cooking Vinyl). Yet of course, the truth in a world of Buzzcocks inspired melodic punk, you could always do worse than Shelley and Diggle.

Even with Shelley’s death in December of 2018, the band continues on.

With the benefit of hindsight, I can reevaluate the bands work. 1996’s All Set is actually a strong set of songs. Perhaps not as good as it’s predecessor, but pretty close.

The band recorded with Neill King- who engineered the breakout albums by Green Day and other Buzzcocks influenced bands like Rancid, Jawbreaker and the Muffs.

It seems absurd that a band with that name and that age would be able to replicate the success of their followers but the demise of IRS records shortly following the release would have certainly not helped things.

99’s Modern doesn’t have the tunes, but sonically it’s a great listen. The band incorporated a lot of new wave electronic elements.

03’s self titled album brought the band back to something more akin to the bands original sound. It’s hard to say why this album doesn’t click for me since there’s so much energy. Is it so competent it’s boring?

Flat Pack Philosophy (2006) similarly misses the Mark, but the band mixes their sound up between songs that it at least feels like a more interesting listen.

The bands last album to date (The Way 2014) is likely the weakest. The album reminds me of all of the 90s indie bands that had listened to some Husker Du records and dutifully set out to make their own (often inferior) product.

All of this is irrelevant of course when it comes to Late For The Train- a six disc boxed set that tries to capture the Mk. 2 Buzzcocks live performances.

The band was always a bunch of frenetic
Punks with a solid catalog. The band picked the best of the new material and it fit seamlessly with the Greatest Hits.

If for some reason, you have not checked out the second incarnation (a term I use loosely - Buzzcocks mk 2 has had three main “lineup” changes -89-92, 92-08, 08-current) this is a great starting spot.