# The Life Pursuit (Belle & Sebastian album) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2006, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-pursuit-belle-sebastian-album/357239 "2006-05-18T06:42:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-pursuit-belle-sebastian-album/357239/1 "2006-05-18T06:42:27Z")
What do you think of Belle and Sebastian’s new album? It’s a lot more poppish than their previous work, building on the trend started by Dear Catastrophe Waitress. But that’s not a bad thing, at least to me - the tunes are very catchy and there’s a lot on this album that I want to sing along to. But it hasn’t gotten great reviews, probably because if you listened to it right after Tigermilk or Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant, you probably couldn’t tell you were listening to the same band. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-pursuit-belle-sebastian-album/357239/2 "2006-05-18T06:49:48Z")
I like the fake T-Rex songs like “The blues are still blue,” but it just sounds like more of the same to me. B&S have been shedding members left and right, and while Stuart David is the heart of the band, that certain chemistry seems to have vanished from the records. It’s immediately more appealing than _Dear Catastrophe Waitress_, but still feels bland and phoned-in in 2006. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-pursuit-belle-sebastian-album/357239/3 "2006-05-18T07:07:15Z")
Hasn’t really grabbed me like their previous ones. I actually started on _Dear Catastrophe Waitress_ and worked my way backwards. They were always one of those bands I knew I should like but I never got off of my ass and got the music. So I have a certain affinity for _DCW_ although it isn’t my favorite. I do give them some credit, though – pop genius that Stuart Murdoch is, he is kind of a one-trick pony and I respect him for following the trend he started specifically on the song “I’m a Cuckoo.” BTW, anyone ever heard the Avalanches remix of that song with African musicians? ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-pursuit-belle-sebastian-album/357239/4 "2006-05-18T11:00:51Z")
> [@](#): > > But it hasn’t gotten great reviews, It hasn’t? Everything I’ve read has been gushing. Personally, I think it’s their best since _If You’re Feeling Sinister_, and one of the top three or four albums in what has so far been a very strong year. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-pursuit-belle-sebastian-album/357239/5 "2006-05-18T16:34:28Z")
I started out on them with “Arab Strap” and got into “Tigermilk” and “Sinister” really quickly, and absolutely ate up the EP boxed set. “Fold Your Hands” took a while to grow on me, but there’s some really great songs on there. It also contains the only B&S song I don’t like, “Beyond the Sunrise” ech. “Catastrophe Waitress,” I really dig only about half of the songs on there. I got “Life Pursuit”…put it in my car stereo, listened a few dozen times during short trips. It still hasn’t grown on me yet. I agree that it’s more popish than other stuff. I think it just goes to show that I’m not really a fan “Brit Pop” or emo or whatever kind of genre B&S is. I am just a huge fan of B&S, based on their pre-2001 stuff. Or I just discovered them in the right time in my life and no longer have a need for their new stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-pursuit-belle-sebastian-album/357239/6 "2006-05-18T16:36:26Z")
It’s my least-favorite of all their albums. I still like it, but I’ve never warmed up to it the way I have to their other stuff. I greatly prefer the hauntingly beautiful, downcast “wimp rock” on _Sinister_ and _Arab Strap._