I was on one of those open-top bus tours of Edinburgh a few years back when we went past this guitar shop so I forced the family to get off at this place called the grass market so I could look and see if they had any vintage guitars. I'm still regretting passing up a Rickenbacker in London a few weeks beforehand. As I made my way to the shop after leaving the family at a toy shop I was distracted by a record shop called Avalanche. It was in the middle of renovations so there was wood and posters and records everywhere. but there was a massive Belle and Sebastian poster on the wall which I enquired about. Of course, it wasn't for sale but I did manage to get a conversation going with the owner who told me that the band was the biggest seller in his shop.
It reminded me how much I loved this band. I see them as direct descendants of the Kinks. Just the wordplay and the mixing of styles in their records. Even the vocals sound a little like Ray Davies at times. With a Scottish brogue.
Funny Little Frog was the single that revitalized my interest after I had lost interest in them after their Sinister album. I was over at Bruce Minty's house (Little Murders guitarist) when he played it and my ears pricked up. From there I went back and found their later albums and realized how much I still liked their music. Especially Dear Catastrophe Waitress which this was from.
Even got to see them live at the Forum in Melbourne. It wasn't packed so Liz and I could get pretty close to the front. Magic night. Since then I've caught them live a few times. Always great.
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