Belle & Sebastian - White Collar Boy (Rough Trade)
UK release date: 26 June 2006
I have to admit that at first I wasn't overly impressed with The Life Pursuit. It took a few listens but eventually, by about the third or fourth, it clicked. It would be unfair to compare Belle and Sebastian's most recent album with the classic If You're Feeling Sinister but it would certainly rank up there with my favourite releases of 2006 so far. Now I almost feel ashamed to have ever doubted the band's ability to come up with a fresh new sound and pull it off successfully.
The third single to be released from the album, White Collar Boy is a bit of a glam rock stomp. The drums clump along like big boots while the fuzzy guitars are pure 1970s. In true B&S traditions the song is undeniably melodic and will get that foot tapping in no time. There is also the kind of witty narrative we've come to expect, presented in an effective call and response vocal between Stuart Murdoch and a Stevie Jackson-Sarah Martin combo. "You were chained to a girl that would kill you with a look" sings Murdoch, to the reply of "It's a nice way to die she's so easy on the eye". They are the kind of lyrics that just make you smile.
It all amounts to another B&S triumph, although whether the same can be said of the cover of Rod Stewart's Baby Jane found on the 7' version of the single is very much open to debate.
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