God Help the Girl (God Help The Girl)
Stuart Murdoch was at the forefront of the Baroque Rock revival in the mid-90s, and after a decade, he’s still a driving force in the (very small) group of baroque rockers. Okay, so the last few Belle & Sebastian records have been (ahem) less than stellar, and God Help the Girl is bound to piss off some of the old time B&S fans, but despite the non-melancholy lyrics and the (unfortunate song choice, though still pretty good) cover of “Funny Little Frog” aside, God Help the Girl is one epic piece of ear-candy. The music is great, all of the singers, especially Catherine Ireton, are top notch, and Mick Cooke’s orchestra is, for lack of a better term, kickin’ rad. Bravo, Mr. Murdoch, bravo.
A
Coming Up ((The London) Suede)
When one thinks of Britpop, one thinks of iconic images like Noel Gallagher’s sneer, Damon Albarn’s stupid grin or… Jarvis Cocker’s glasses(?). Enter Suede, a London band with some good songs and a singer with an incredibly nasal voice. Coming up was their biggest album, with good reason, all ten of the songs on the ten-song tracklist are hella epic. Though, admittedly, vocalist Brett Anderson’s voice is something of an acquired taste. If you can get past that, then you’re at the gates of Britpop Xanadu.
B
Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend)
Ezra Koenig is either a complete genius, or is completely and utterly insane, and exactly which one he is still isn’t clear after prolonged listening sessions. Good for a half hour of laid-back hyperliterate (sadly)-preppy indie-ska-reggae-baroque rock. For fun, try counting the times Cape Cod is mentioned in the songs. The results will astound you!
B+
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