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Belle and Sebastian: Just A Modern Rock Story
In the years since their first release, Belle and Sebastian have grown from a secretive cult concern into one of the most beloved and revered pop'n'roll bands in the world. Intelligent and sensitive, witty and original, beautiful and bold, their music inspires the kind of devotion not seen since The Smiths. Their continuing desire to push the boundaries of their vision has resulted in some of the most essential and idiosyncratic records of recent times.
In this, the first biography of Belle and Sebastian, Paul Whitelaw traces their unpredictable personal and creative curve. With all original interviews and personal photos from the band Belle and Just A Modern Rock Story is the definitive account of the clandestine world and continuing rise of the unique and fascinating musical phenomenon that is Belle and Sebastian .
In this, the first biography of Belle and Sebastian, Paul Whitelaw traces their unpredictable personal and creative curve. With all original interviews and personal photos from the band Belle and Just A Modern Rock Story is the definitive account of the clandestine world and continuing rise of the unique and fascinating musical phenomenon that is Belle and Sebastian .
- GenresMusicNonfictionBiography
401 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 26, 2021
One of the beauties of reading books is that it allows you to explore very specific, esoteric interests. The history of knitting, for instance, or the Orkney Islands, or Russian grammar, or the Battle of Shiloh, or chess openings, or the migratory flyway of the black-throated blue warbler. I like books because they are often my only avenue of discourse for topics where I can’t find a willing conversation partner among actual living human beings, because normal people aren’t interested in medieval demographics, the Troubles, or Belle and Sebastian.
Much of my mental bandwidth is taken up with songs and albums and bands. I love a lot of music but there are only a dozen or so artists that I’ve really studied, where I’ve read the books and watched the documentaries, etc. Belle and Sebastian were not among these artists until recently. They were were a band I loved that I knew almost nothing about. Then, last month I read Stuart David’s memoir about the first year of Belle and Sebastian, and now I’ve read Modern Rock Song . . . . I’ve been a fan of B&S since high school, but it’s only in the last month that I could have told you the name of their drummer or keyboard player.
Honestly, the mystery surrounding the band was part of the charm. The songs of Belle and Sebastian conjure up a certain world, populated by indie kids and hipsters with bookish tendencies, ambiguous sexual orientations, precocious and sensitive manners, health problems, mild religious affiliations, etc.
She was into S & M and Bible studies, not everyone’s cup of tea.
Is is wicked when you smile, even though you feel like dying, even though you could be sick at any time?
Your obsessions get you known throughout the school for being strange / Making life-size models of the Velvet Underground in clay
Tony, you’re a bit of a mess / Melted Toblerone under your dress / And if the boys could see you they would pass you right by / Blue mascara running over your eye
Knowing actual, real-life details about the people who created this music kind of feels like a pointless distraction from the music itself. There are really two Belle and Sebastians, the world that exists in the songs, and the actual band.
It’s not like the Beatles, where the story of the band is also the story of their music, and the creative evolution that lead from Hard Day’s Night to Revolver to Sgt. Pepper to Abbey Road parallels the personal development of the band members. Knowing about Paul and John’s deepening rift, the drama with Yoko, the death of Brian Epstein, their touring, their drug use, their interest in meditation and their trip to India—all of these things deepen your understanding of the songs. You get more out of their music by knowing their biography.
Not so with Belle & Sebastian. Or at least not as much. The story of their first year, the recording of Tigermilk and If You’re Feeling Sinister definitely deepens your appreciation for the songs, and you get more out of the tunes knowing the biographical details of the BeatBox program and Stuart Murdoch’s emergence from chronic fatigue syndrome, and their whirlwind recording sessions. But after that, the world of their songs and the world of the musicians seem to completely diverge. Knowing that they accidentally left their drummer in a North Dakota Wal-Mart while touring the US doesn’t really add anything to your conception of The Life Pursuit.
I was a senior in high school, circa 1999, when my brother-in-law put The Boy With The Arab Strap on a mix tape for me. I knew nothing about the band at that time other than their name. I assumed someone in the band was named Belle and someone was named Sebastian. I could tell they were from Scotland based on the accents, but I assumed they were a ‘60s or ‘70s band, and that this was a vintage gem that I hadn’t yet discovered, like the Velvet Underground.
Then I got a copy of Fold Your Hands . . . when it came out and realized they were a ‘90s band. It would be another few years before I heard their first two records. Jeepster didn’t exactly have great distribution in northern Wisconsin.
Oh, yeah, this is a book review. Is this book any good? Sorta. It’s written in the style of a magazine article, like NME or Alternative Press or Spin, and each chapter begins and ends with an italicized mini-novelization of the band’s story, such as:
The curious boy stepped up to the mic and sang. Here he was, finally doing what he’d prayed for ever since the day he found out, after years of showing no previous aptitude in the area whatsoever, that he could write songs.
I thought this particular conceit was rather pointless. Frankly, I learned more about the band’s early days from Stuart David’s memoir, which was better written as well. Paul Whitelaw paints in broad strokes. You get an outline of the band’s history, but not much fine detail, and there are paragraphs of rambling interviews with band members that could have used some edits.
Still I learned a lot. In particular, I learned about the personal drama that was happening during the making of Arab Strap and Fold Your Hands . . . . It was like Fleetwood Mac behind the scenes. Which just goes to show the discrepancy between the experience of making an album (as an artist) and the experience of listening to an album (as a fan). When I heard Arab Strap for the first time, I imagined a group of twee lads and lassies having a picnic on a sunny Scottish meadow and reading each other poetry, or something. I was genuinely shocked to discover that certain band members weren’t even talking to each other at that point.
I never knew why Stuart David left the band, exactly, other than he wanted to do his own thing. He wanted to make records as Looper and write novels. I get that, but I have no idea why he couldn’t have done that and stayed in Belle and Sebastian, especially when they were barely touring. I still don’t know.
I also learned that Isobel and Stuart were fighting and bickering from nearly the start, and that she didn’t want to tour and by her own admission was difficult to work with, and would unilaterally change everyone else’s schedule to record her own music, and by the end she and Stuart were not even speaking and she finally left in the middle of a tour, but I still get the sense that there must be some brutal stories and details that either the author didn’t flush out, or that he left obscure in the interests of mercy. I suppose it’s prurient and coarse of me to pry. All the band members seem mature and diplomatic about it from their current vantage point.
The author is not shy about inserting his own judgements into the book, letting readers know exactly what he thought of certain songs or albums. If he thinks a song sucks, he lets you know. Critically, he endorses the conventional wisdom the Tigermilk and If You’re Feeling Sinister were their best albums, and Arab Strap and Fold Your Hands . . . were scattered missteps
Well, in my opinion Arab Strap is their best album, thank you very much. I love the first two records enormously, but they do feel a little slipshod and rough around the edges. I mean, I vastly prefer that lo-fi aesthetic to the club-ready studio polish of Girls In Peacetime . . . , but in terms of production value and performance chops, Arab Strap falls into the Goldilocks zone between loose and tight.
If You’re Feeling Sinister Is their most consistent album, but I actually prefer the variety on Arab Strap. I like hearing Isobel and Stevie Jackson sing. Plus it has their four best songs:
“The Boy With The Arab Strap”
“Sleep The Clock Around”
“Dirty Dream #2”
“Is It Wicked Not To Care?”
I also love “Rollercoaster Ride”, “Summer Wasting”, and “Ease Your Feet In the Sea,” and those songs are as good as all but the best songs on their first two records.
I am also, apparently the only B&S fan that loves Fold Your Hands . . .. Everyone dumps on that album. But it’s so good! Even “Beyond The Sunrise” has grown on me. “There’s Too Much Love” and “Women’s Realm” are basically the same song, but they’re in my B&S top 10, along with “Wrong Girl.”
I will admit it took me longer to warm to Fold Your Hands . . . than their previous albums and the quality is a bit inconsistent, but there’s a lot of interesting stuff. The northern soul grooves are great, the string sections are sick, and the band is tighter and more in tune than ever before. I would give first two albums each an A, Arab Strap an A+, and Fold your Hands a very respectable B+.
Belle and Sebastian continue to write individual songs that I love, but after Storytelling they would never again make an entire album that I loved start to finish, no exceptions, no skipped tracks. Life Pursuit and Write About Love were strong, but not as strong as their first four records. Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance was the first Belle and Sebastian album that I actually disliked. It sounds like MGMT or Capital Cities. Not everyone's cup of tea.
Much of my mental bandwidth is taken up with songs and albums and bands. I love a lot of music but there are only a dozen or so artists that I’ve really studied, where I’ve read the books and watched the documentaries, etc. Belle and Sebastian were not among these artists until recently. They were were a band I loved that I knew almost nothing about. Then, last month I read Stuart David’s memoir about the first year of Belle and Sebastian, and now I’ve read Modern Rock Song . . . . I’ve been a fan of B&S since high school, but it’s only in the last month that I could have told you the name of their drummer or keyboard player.
Honestly, the mystery surrounding the band was part of the charm. The songs of Belle and Sebastian conjure up a certain world, populated by indie kids and hipsters with bookish tendencies, ambiguous sexual orientations, precocious and sensitive manners, health problems, mild religious affiliations, etc.
She was into S & M and Bible studies, not everyone’s cup of tea.
Is is wicked when you smile, even though you feel like dying, even though you could be sick at any time?
Your obsessions get you known throughout the school for being strange / Making life-size models of the Velvet Underground in clay
Tony, you’re a bit of a mess / Melted Toblerone under your dress / And if the boys could see you they would pass you right by / Blue mascara running over your eye
Knowing actual, real-life details about the people who created this music kind of feels like a pointless distraction from the music itself. There are really two Belle and Sebastians, the world that exists in the songs, and the actual band.
It’s not like the Beatles, where the story of the band is also the story of their music, and the creative evolution that lead from Hard Day’s Night to Revolver to Sgt. Pepper to Abbey Road parallels the personal development of the band members. Knowing about Paul and John’s deepening rift, the drama with Yoko, the death of Brian Epstein, their touring, their drug use, their interest in meditation and their trip to India—all of these things deepen your understanding of the songs. You get more out of their music by knowing their biography.
Not so with Belle & Sebastian. Or at least not as much. The story of their first year, the recording of Tigermilk and If You’re Feeling Sinister definitely deepens your appreciation for the songs, and you get more out of the tunes knowing the biographical details of the BeatBox program and Stuart Murdoch’s emergence from chronic fatigue syndrome, and their whirlwind recording sessions. But after that, the world of their songs and the world of the musicians seem to completely diverge. Knowing that they accidentally left their drummer in a North Dakota Wal-Mart while touring the US doesn’t really add anything to your conception of The Life Pursuit.
I was a senior in high school, circa 1999, when my brother-in-law put The Boy With The Arab Strap on a mix tape for me. I knew nothing about the band at that time other than their name. I assumed someone in the band was named Belle and someone was named Sebastian. I could tell they were from Scotland based on the accents, but I assumed they were a ‘60s or ‘70s band, and that this was a vintage gem that I hadn’t yet discovered, like the Velvet Underground.
Then I got a copy of Fold Your Hands . . . when it came out and realized they were a ‘90s band. It would be another few years before I heard their first two records. Jeepster didn’t exactly have great distribution in northern Wisconsin.
Oh, yeah, this is a book review. Is this book any good? Sorta. It’s written in the style of a magazine article, like NME or Alternative Press or Spin, and each chapter begins and ends with an italicized mini-novelization of the band’s story, such as:
The curious boy stepped up to the mic and sang. Here he was, finally doing what he’d prayed for ever since the day he found out, after years of showing no previous aptitude in the area whatsoever, that he could write songs.
I thought this particular conceit was rather pointless. Frankly, I learned more about the band’s early days from Stuart David’s memoir, which was better written as well. Paul Whitelaw paints in broad strokes. You get an outline of the band’s history, but not much fine detail, and there are paragraphs of rambling interviews with band members that could have used some edits.
Still I learned a lot. In particular, I learned about the personal drama that was happening during the making of Arab Strap and Fold Your Hands . . . . It was like Fleetwood Mac behind the scenes. Which just goes to show the discrepancy between the experience of making an album (as an artist) and the experience of listening to an album (as a fan). When I heard Arab Strap for the first time, I imagined a group of twee lads and lassies having a picnic on a sunny Scottish meadow and reading each other poetry, or something. I was genuinely shocked to discover that certain band members weren’t even talking to each other at that point.
I never knew why Stuart David left the band, exactly, other than he wanted to do his own thing. He wanted to make records as Looper and write novels. I get that, but I have no idea why he couldn’t have done that and stayed in Belle and Sebastian, especially when they were barely touring. I still don’t know.
I also learned that Isobel and Stuart were fighting and bickering from nearly the start, and that she didn’t want to tour and by her own admission was difficult to work with, and would unilaterally change everyone else’s schedule to record her own music, and by the end she and Stuart were not even speaking and she finally left in the middle of a tour, but I still get the sense that there must be some brutal stories and details that either the author didn’t flush out, or that he left obscure in the interests of mercy. I suppose it’s prurient and coarse of me to pry. All the band members seem mature and diplomatic about it from their current vantage point.
The author is not shy about inserting his own judgements into the book, letting readers know exactly what he thought of certain songs or albums. If he thinks a song sucks, he lets you know. Critically, he endorses the conventional wisdom the Tigermilk and If You’re Feeling Sinister were their best albums, and Arab Strap and Fold Your Hands . . . were scattered missteps
Well, in my opinion Arab Strap is their best album, thank you very much. I love the first two records enormously, but they do feel a little slipshod and rough around the edges. I mean, I vastly prefer that lo-fi aesthetic to the club-ready studio polish of Girls In Peacetime . . . , but in terms of production value and performance chops, Arab Strap falls into the Goldilocks zone between loose and tight.
If You’re Feeling Sinister Is their most consistent album, but I actually prefer the variety on Arab Strap. I like hearing Isobel and Stevie Jackson sing. Plus it has their four best songs:
“The Boy With The Arab Strap”
“Sleep The Clock Around”
“Dirty Dream #2”
“Is It Wicked Not To Care?”
I also love “Rollercoaster Ride”, “Summer Wasting”, and “Ease Your Feet In the Sea,” and those songs are as good as all but the best songs on their first two records.
I am also, apparently the only B&S fan that loves Fold Your Hands . . .. Everyone dumps on that album. But it’s so good! Even “Beyond The Sunrise” has grown on me. “There’s Too Much Love” and “Women’s Realm” are basically the same song, but they’re in my B&S top 10, along with “Wrong Girl.”
I will admit it took me longer to warm to Fold Your Hands . . . than their previous albums and the quality is a bit inconsistent, but there’s a lot of interesting stuff. The northern soul grooves are great, the string sections are sick, and the band is tighter and more in tune than ever before. I would give first two albums each an A, Arab Strap an A+, and Fold your Hands a very respectable B+.
Belle and Sebastian continue to write individual songs that I love, but after Storytelling they would never again make an entire album that I loved start to finish, no exceptions, no skipped tracks. Life Pursuit and Write About Love were strong, but not as strong as their first four records. Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance was the first Belle and Sebastian album that I actually disliked. It sounds like MGMT or Capital Cities. Not everyone's cup of tea.
January 18, 2019
This book was great and I enjoyed it. B & S are my all time favs and my only regret is that the book was not written later on to include and pick apart their more recent records. Although i did not agree a lot with what the author thought of the records. I loved the albums the author says fall short. I enjoyed learning about the band and where they came from. Overall an informative good book.
January 18, 2019
Last month I made a brief visit to the town where I went to college, and afterward I joked that I didn’t really feel nostalgic, but the trip did make me want to listen to Belle and Sebastian again. I didn’t know their music until the day their third album came out, and it was in the special “listening station” at Tower Records. The overall ambience and timbres of that record hooked me. Almost immediately, I bought their second album, and then their first three EPs (separately, as expensive imports), and then their debut when it was finally reissued the next year, and so on.
Belle and Sebastian’s songs captured the angst and awkwardness of being a teenager/twenty-something in that era so effectively. They were mysterious too; even though we had the internet, this was before social media and and Wikipedia, so we just had to sift through fan pages and discussion groups to find anything out. The people in the album photos weren’t usually band members, they didn’t talk to the press, and they had barely performed in the US then.
Just a Modern Rock Story is an authorized bio of the band, so we hear from all the members and ex-members, and the albums’ charming sleeve notes/short stories are included. The book came out in 2005, which is about the time I last listened to them, so the period it covers is perfect for me. Belle and Sebastian’s origin story has many intriguing elements (job training programs, a music business course that allowed for the recording and release of the debut, chronic fatigue syndrome, the Glasgow arts scene) that are the highlights of the book for me. The rest is decent too, but the earliest days are the most compelling part of the story.
Belle and Sebastian’s songs captured the angst and awkwardness of being a teenager/twenty-something in that era so effectively. They were mysterious too; even though we had the internet, this was before social media and and Wikipedia, so we just had to sift through fan pages and discussion groups to find anything out. The people in the album photos weren’t usually band members, they didn’t talk to the press, and they had barely performed in the US then.
Just a Modern Rock Story is an authorized bio of the band, so we hear from all the members and ex-members, and the albums’ charming sleeve notes/short stories are included. The book came out in 2005, which is about the time I last listened to them, so the period it covers is perfect for me. Belle and Sebastian’s origin story has many intriguing elements (job training programs, a music business course that allowed for the recording and release of the debut, chronic fatigue syndrome, the Glasgow arts scene) that are the highlights of the book for me. The rest is decent too, but the earliest days are the most compelling part of the story.
April 20, 2021
Pretty uninteresting music bio. I have a feeling that they're just not that wild and crazy as a band. And if there was craziness happening at all, they didn't feel like sharing it. This one is really for hardcore fans who will want to know about Stuart and Isobel's relationship, and how people left the band, and just who some of those early songs were about, and all the little things that made it so the band wasn't bigger than it could've been. And I am one of those people - and even I was bored after a while.
July 23, 2008
Glasgow writer Paul Whitelaw offers the first Belle & Sebastian biography with his 2005 book. As a first band biography it is complete in discussing the band - both as individual band members as well as the band as a whole. Whitelaw interviewed most of the members of B&S and had access to some of Stuart Murdoch's correspondence. The problem with a lot of music biographies is that they are generally written by some of the biggest fans. On one hand this allows them access to a lot of the inner workings of the members' thoughts; on the other hand, as in the case here with Whitelaw, the author is completely biased and clearly chooses his favorites. Often Whitelaw managed to also be such an incredible ass-kisser that it made me "wince" (a favorite word of his throughout the text).
The relationship between Stuart Murdoch and Isobel Campbell is one that fans of B&S have been intrigued by since the beginning. As Whitelaw points out, both Stuart and Isobel were just as confused by the relationship as well. Whitelaw spend a considerable amount of time discussing their relationship, to the point of distraction. He habitually jumped around in his chronology, making the reading confusing when at times it felt like he repeated a lot of the same information. Whitelaw's fascination with "the curious boy", Stuart Murdoch, was possibly the most frustrating part to read - particularly when it came to knocking Isobel Campbell down a few stairs in the process. As an innocent bystander as myself I can say that I feel both Stuart and Isobel were both whiny and probably deserved each other; but Stuart's take on the relationship (as is typical in most band relationships) is a little harsher than is perhaps necessary.
And for any fan of B&S how important is the relationship really in comparison to the music? Isobel went on to make incredible solo music and to work with the legendary (in some circles) Mark Lanegan. Her music is of a different nature, most of which is actually quite great. It often felt that Whitelaw was personally offended when Isobel left the band for greener pastures. I would have much preferred he removed his nose from Murdoch's butt and shown a little less judgment about the other members of the band, other fans, etc. As far as journalistic writing goes, unbias is still best.
Not the worst bio I've read, but certainly not the best. It could have been much better and everyone could have been shown in a less reverential and more honest light, despite Whitelaw's clear attemps at trying to portray it all so candidly.
The relationship between Stuart Murdoch and Isobel Campbell is one that fans of B&S have been intrigued by since the beginning. As Whitelaw points out, both Stuart and Isobel were just as confused by the relationship as well. Whitelaw spend a considerable amount of time discussing their relationship, to the point of distraction. He habitually jumped around in his chronology, making the reading confusing when at times it felt like he repeated a lot of the same information. Whitelaw's fascination with "the curious boy", Stuart Murdoch, was possibly the most frustrating part to read - particularly when it came to knocking Isobel Campbell down a few stairs in the process. As an innocent bystander as myself I can say that I feel both Stuart and Isobel were both whiny and probably deserved each other; but Stuart's take on the relationship (as is typical in most band relationships) is a little harsher than is perhaps necessary.
And for any fan of B&S how important is the relationship really in comparison to the music? Isobel went on to make incredible solo music and to work with the legendary (in some circles) Mark Lanegan. Her music is of a different nature, most of which is actually quite great. It often felt that Whitelaw was personally offended when Isobel left the band for greener pastures. I would have much preferred he removed his nose from Murdoch's butt and shown a little less judgment about the other members of the band, other fans, etc. As far as journalistic writing goes, unbias is still best.
Not the worst bio I've read, but certainly not the best. It could have been much better and everyone could have been shown in a less reverential and more honest light, despite Whitelaw's clear attemps at trying to portray it all so candidly.
June 26, 2011
Well… It kinda sucked. I was really into it at the start but the more I ‘learnt’ (it’s all pretty biased accounts of what happened so how much truth there is in it, I’m not 100%) about them, the more it kind of made me think, these guys are dicks. And I love Belle & Sebastian! I don’t want to hate them or think they’re stuck up, mean bastards. So yeah, this book really wasn’t what I was hoping it would be. Isobel comes off super badly in it, he writes her like she’s this absolute bratty child - which maybe she was - but it seems like an massive oversimplification of what probably happened. It was interestesting to read about what the songs are about and how the recording processes went and stuff, but they really don’t come across very well in it. Second half of the book is much much worse than the first.
January 25, 2009
I liked Belle and Sebastian more before I knew anything about them.
May 10, 2021
Halfway through: I get why the style annoys some people, but I quite like it. It's lively and readable, and the author has some fun and shows some personality. He's irreverent about the band but obviously loves the music, and there's plenty of genuine insight to be gleaned from the interviews he conducted. Of course there are a few clunkers but that's a fair price to pay for the looseness and freedom of the writing. Some of the band members probably have a right to take offense, but I don't get the feeling Whitelaw is deliberately unfair to any of them. You probably do have to be a B&S fan to get much out of this; when I imagine going into it with no pre-existing interest, I can see that it would all feel a bit trivial. It's not a standalone literary masterpiece, but I'm finding it fun and engaging. (If you haven't read In the All-Night Café: A Memoir of Belle and Sebastian's Formative Year, though, start with that -- it's excellent.)
End: Yep, thoroughly enjoyed this. Whitelaw is perhaps rather condescending toward Isobel, but he does a good job of separating his judgments from the facts and the subjects' own words. (Reading a true hatchet job, you probably don't feel that the victim is hard done by; you nod along and scorn them, because they are rendered unsympathetic by the author's selective or false presentation.)
End: Yep, thoroughly enjoyed this. Whitelaw is perhaps rather condescending toward Isobel, but he does a good job of separating his judgments from the facts and the subjects' own words. (Reading a true hatchet job, you probably don't feel that the victim is hard done by; you nod along and scorn them, because they are rendered unsympathetic by the author's selective or false presentation.)
March 25, 2023
4.5/5
Zipped through this. Puts a lot of the flesh on the bones after the more whimsical (and very engaging) Stuart David memoir because it i) covers more years and ii) covers a lot of stories from a number of perspectives of the bands & their coterie).
Zipped through this. Puts a lot of the flesh on the bones after the more whimsical (and very engaging) Stuart David memoir because it i) covers more years and ii) covers a lot of stories from a number of perspectives of the bands & their coterie).
June 18, 2023
Interesting reax
April 2, 2012
Paul Whitelaw's BELLE AND SEBASTIAN: Just a Modern Rock Story is a biography of the Scottish pop band who have eluded major commercial success, but built a rock-solid cult following since 1996. The book was published in 2005, not long after the release of their album DEAR CATASTROPHE WAITRESS. Whitelaw interviewed almost every members of the band past and former, and dedicates much space to the polemics that saw the departure of early members Stuart David and Isobel Campbell.
I expected this book to be entertaining and informative, but it varied between dull and frustrating. Whitelaw pursues a cutesy writing style that tries to embed as many Belle and Sebastian lyrics into his prose as possible. The author seems to have realized that his treatment of the band is often too fauning and uncritical, but instead of toning it down, he tries to balance it with peculiar critical assertions (such as trashing most of THE BOY WITH THE ARAB STRAP album). There are a lot of facts here that I didn't know before, but they didn't bring me to a greater appreciation of Belle and Sebastian's songs. I'm of an academic bent, and generally reading commentary on musicians helps me get more out of the music. With Belle and Sebastian, their lovely music seems to exist wholly separate from the soap opera life that the band members lived over these years.
All in all, I can't recommend this book, and fans who go on with Whitelaw's book nonetheless for the sake of its abundant trivia are taking a chance.
I expected this book to be entertaining and informative, but it varied between dull and frustrating. Whitelaw pursues a cutesy writing style that tries to embed as many Belle and Sebastian lyrics into his prose as possible. The author seems to have realized that his treatment of the band is often too fauning and uncritical, but instead of toning it down, he tries to balance it with peculiar critical assertions (such as trashing most of THE BOY WITH THE ARAB STRAP album). There are a lot of facts here that I didn't know before, but they didn't bring me to a greater appreciation of Belle and Sebastian's songs. I'm of an academic bent, and generally reading commentary on musicians helps me get more out of the music. With Belle and Sebastian, their lovely music seems to exist wholly separate from the soap opera life that the band members lived over these years.
All in all, I can't recommend this book, and fans who go on with Whitelaw's book nonetheless for the sake of its abundant trivia are taking a chance.
September 9, 2013
It was a bit of a slog to get through, which surprised me being a bigger B & S fan. Some interesting bits about the nature of Stuart and Bel's relationship but hearing the full story here was in total somewhat boring. The band origin stuff to is intriguing but nothing that hasn't been covered in liner notes and an adoring music press a hundred times.
While the author offered some critique of their music and efforts, most of what we get comes off as fan-boy fawning. Back stories of songs and albums too disappoint, with very little approaching fly-on-the-wall tell-all tales.
Repetition sets in and the book really drags from Stuart David's departure through to when Isobel leaves the band. Maybe with a band as precious as B & S, we want there to be a great story soup to nuts, and when the reality is that there isn't we can't help being disappointed.
Would recommend the making of If You're Feeling Sinister... documentary on Netflix over time spent reading this.
While the author offered some critique of their music and efforts, most of what we get comes off as fan-boy fawning. Back stories of songs and albums too disappoint, with very little approaching fly-on-the-wall tell-all tales.
Repetition sets in and the book really drags from Stuart David's departure through to when Isobel leaves the band. Maybe with a band as precious as B & S, we want there to be a great story soup to nuts, and when the reality is that there isn't we can't help being disappointed.
Would recommend the making of If You're Feeling Sinister... documentary on Netflix over time spent reading this.
June 24, 2008
I'm an ardent B&S fan and to be honest, I was a little disappointed with this book. I was grateful for the information Whitelaw gave, but his tone felt facetious to me and I was annoyed by how much he focused on the relationship between Stuart and Isobel. I definitely think it's a worthwhile read if you're a fan of the band, but I wouldn't read it based on literary merit. Maybe I'm being too critical considering I read it a few years ago. I guess I'll just have to read it again to see if my thoughts have changed!
February 22, 2009
At first, I found it difficult to get into this book, as it spent a great deal introducing the characters. I already knew the characters, but I just wanted to get into the story of it all. Once that took off, I was stuck, and I didn't want to put the entire thing down. It's like a bedroom story, to be shared only by those who spent their days wondering about in the world of Belle and Sebastian. It was a great visit.
August 17, 2007
very cool band biography. both member sections and release sections. essential for any b&s fan.
September 11, 2007
i read this book for one reason: to gather more proof that the belle and sebastian's lead singer is, indeed, straight and will, therefore, one day probably want to make out with me.
December 23, 2008
Decent enough biography of my favorite band.
May 15, 2009
Fan writer. I only liked it when the writer wrote a little romantically about the brief relationship between Isobell and Stuart.
September 22, 2009
Belle and Sebastian make me feel young and innocent. This book is written to evoke the same feeling. If you are a fan I would suggest their DVD "Fans Only"
May 31, 2010
awful. favorite band, but this book was awful.
July 9, 2010
A surprisingly interesting rock bioabout one of the admittedly wimpiest bands I love. Sometimes these sort of things are...not good, but this one was fun and interesting. It was good!
July 13, 2016
At the moment, the best Belle and Sebastian memoir out there.
August 30, 2013
Love this band, but this was a terrible attempt at a proper biography.
October 5, 2013
Great band, crap book.
July 25, 2020
Great book nicely written: Stuart David is a natural story teller and this is a must read for any fan of Belle and Sebastian.
Want to read
January 12, 2009love this band. should read this.
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