The following is an early draft of a scene from the screenplay to the Touchstone Pictures release High Fidelity, starring John Cusack, directed by Stephen Frears, based on the best-selling novel by Nick Hornby. The scene was originally adapted from a Pitchfork review by Nick Mirov.
Yeah. [pause] But it's really not as good as their older stuff. I mean, there are some good songs on here, I guess, but they're not as good as anything from If You're Feeling Sinister, or even The Boy with the Arab Strap. It's weird, because the songs definitely sound better, but the album is still kind of disappointing.
But, then, you know how when you really like a band, the first album you've heard by them usually stands out as the best? I mean, after that first great album you hear, bands pretty rarely measure up to your expectations again.
So, maybe this is really a decent album that I just don't like because my expectations are too skewed. But it certainly isn't the best thing Belle & Sebastian have ever done. Maybe half the album is good, but given these guys' track record, half a good album doesn't cut it.
Well, Belle & Sebastian used to be just Stuart Murdoch's songs, but on Arab Strap, the other members started contributing songs, too. That's not so much the problem, though, because Isobel Campbell's two tracks here are really good. It's Stevie Jackson and Stuart David's songs that get on my nerves. "Beyond the Sunrise" is so pallid and lugubrious it's silly, and "The Wrong Girl" seems too insipidly poppy.
Hey, Stuart Murdoch's best songs have always been breezy, but they're usually given heft by dry wit and eccentric detail. On this album, his better songs are the sadder, more serious ones-- "I Fought in a War" and "The Chalet Lines." His lighter, more pop-driven songs come off more like parodies of Belle & Sebastian songs, or, at best, outtakes from past albums. "The Model" and "Women's Realm" sound like he's trying too hard, cramming in as much lyrical and musical detail as he can. All that decoration just crushes the song, which, you know, wasn't that great in the first place.
No, no, it's okay. But like I said, it's disappointing. I think in the long run, I'll listen to Sinister and even Arab Strap more than this one.
