After you’ve worked through yet another list of Scottish towns where the drummer once lived in/visited/heard about once the mind begins to wonder exactly when, um, there’s going to be something a bit, well, meaningful?
After you’ve worked through yet another list of Scottish towns where the drummer once lived in/visited/heard about once the mind begins to wonder exactly when, um, there’s going to be something a bit, well, meaningful?
B&S: Just a Modern Rock Story by Paul Whitelaw
Nowadays the warts-n-all biography is as staple a part of any twilight stage pop star career path as appearing on Celebrity Big Brother or releasing an album that trades on former glories. Given the ease of the whole process you can see why. Just chuck in a few comedy moments about when you first left home/played a gig/released a single, add some excruciating details of drug taking and groupies in American hotel rooms and end it with the ‘I found God/rehab’ segment. A smiling picture on the cover to prove continued existence of our hero can help.
But frankly, who cares? If you’ve read more than one book on drug, booze and (especially) talent abuse then it soon becomes apparent that there’s little to separate them. Oh no, if you really want to find the true rock spirit nowadays it seems you have to do an abrupt about turn and march off towards Glasgow armed with a heart full of unrequited love, a head full of dreams and a pile of books. Yes, Belle and Sebastian have now been going long enough to fill 300 luxuriously bound pages of prose from the pen of Metro music editor Paul Whitelaw. Whether this says more about the buy-anything attitude of their fan-base or a genuine need for detailed analysis of their career so far is debatable. But this official tome, based around lengthy interviews with all past and present band members – not to mention management, label staff and various hangers on – still paints an intriguing picture of a collective racked by far more internal conflict and troubles than their sun blessed records would ever suggest.
"Just A Modern Rock Story" lacks any immediacy and the first part of the book is almost painfully slow in its lengthy appraisals of each member’s background in this (relatively large) group. After you’ve worked through yet another list of Scottish towns where the drummer once lived in/visited/heard about once the mind begins to wonder exactly when, um, there’s going to be something a bit, well, meaningful?
However, it’s once the nuts and bolts are out of the Whitelaw truly shines. He’s clearly got a vested interest as a fan but reveals some truly fascinating back-story to their infamous Brits win, the continuing sense of unfulfilled potential (both commercially and musically) that they have suffered from and the ‘lost years’ between The Boy With The Arab Strap and Dear Catastrophe Waitress. The description of these giddy eyed Glaswegian guys and gals appearing on Top of The Pops and the amazement with which they greet arrival at the BBC studios is wonderful.
As are the early experimental gigs where they would set up two different stages (each with the half the band) but fail to rig up connecting monitors. And that’s not to mention the perfectly-captured transformation from twee-hipsters into fully-fledged pop band. One of the most interesting aspects that comes to light is that all those involved profess to be infinitely happier with the recording and sound of recent albums than with the supposed classics such as Tigermilk and If You’re Feeling Sinister.
It’s not in any way perfect, as shown by the way Whitelaw imposes his personal opinions from the start; this is not a book about Belle and Sebastian, the lovably cute but nervous group who sing about their school days. No, this is Belle and Sebastian the meat eating, football playing and occasionally drinking collective who (someone call the Daily Mail!) have even slipped the odd sexual innuendo into their songs. While this attempt at forming an alternate thesis is admirable there’s only so much credence you can give it when juxtaposed over the page with tales of chronic introversion, church hall escapades and living the student lifestyle in your mid 30s.
Also, unlike the truly great rock books this one requires a fair level of subject knowledge to allow enjoyment of the text; there’s always a slight danger of it slipping into "the best liner notes ever" instead of delving into the undercurrents and questioning the motivations of those involved. Certainly the criticisms have (understandably, given the book’s official status) been toned down where stronger words may have been suitable.
Filled with deficiencies, hideously cliquey but a wonderful read all the same, "Just A Modern Rock Story" is a fascinating response to one of the most intriguing bands on offer at the moment. It’s worth ignoring the limited insights for a gracefully crafted view of the wider picture.
Words: James Waterson.