Despite the fact that their releases only ever achieve mediocre chart ratings at best, Glaswegian pop outfit, Belle and Sebastian, have an unarguably cult-like popularity. Fans rate them as Scotland’s finest export, trumping both deep fried mars bars and Irn-Bru. Earlier this year, Pitchfork released an hour long documentary on the band’s second album, If You’re Feeling Sinister, and there are exciting whispers floating around that Belle and Sebastian plan to release new material in 2014. However, to keep fans pacified until then, the band has just blessed our ears with their second compilation album. Released on 27th August, The Third Eye Centre contains a plethora of lovely B-Sides, remixes and other rare musical delicacies.
Not all of the album’s remixes are a roaring success. The Richard X mix of ‘I Didn’t See It Coming’ is really just a bit tacky; there’s an unnecessary amount of fading on the vocals and the pulsating disco beat is slightly nauseating. Richard X has seemingly tried too hard to create a dance track out of something twee. Twee is fine, Richard X. Leave twee alone. However, the album’s opening track, the Avalanche’s remix of ‘I’m A Cuckoo’, shows just how a remix can be done to perfection. ‘I’m A Cuckoo’ is a pretty banging track as it is, full of joyous Belle and Sebastian charm. Avalanches have kept all of that good stuff as well as managing to put their own stamp on it; the track sounds like it belongs in ‘The Lion King’ but in an entirely good way. That sounds weird but have a listen and you’ll understand. There’s lots of percussion, something which sounds like a primary school issue black and white recorder and some very cute cheering and chanting. It’s just great.
Whilst generally the feel of the whole album is very Belle and Sebastian-y, there are a few tracks that seem to be channeling a spectrum of musical genres. ‘Long Black Scarf’ has a very jazzy piano section; it sounds like it could be the soundtrack for a film noire or something. Likewise, ‘Mr Richard’ has a kind of shouty, surfer punk vibe going on that makes it a very apt summer tune. Equally cheery but much more chill is the shimmery ‘(I Believe In) Travellin’ Light’, it has a sound which is unmistakably Belle and Sebastian’s. ‘Stop, Look, And Listen’, however, resonates so strongly of the Beatles that it has Chelsea boots and a bowl haircut.
Lyrically, ‘Meat And Potatoes’ relates most greatly with the tongue in cheek humour often present in Belle and Sebastian’s work. Think of ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’, for example: ‘she was into S and M and bible studies / Not everyone’s cup of tea she would admit to me’. Continuing in a similar vein, ‘Meat and Potatoes’ also deals with the trials and tribulations of being into bondage and S and M; apparently, you should only hit your partner when they’re expecting it and whipped cream is not so sexy when you’re lactose intolerant. This track is informative as well as enjoyable; clearly Belle and Sebastian like to cover all bases.
Unsurprisingly, a shedload of artists cite Belle and Sebastian as a band who have influenced their sound. Listening to ‘I Took A Long Hard Look’, it’s hard not to be struck by how much the track resembles the early work of Sheffield’s cutest boy-girl duo, Slow Club. It’s slow, harmonious and just the right amount of depressing; definitely a track to be played repeatedly on the metaphorical Slow Club iPod. ‘Your Secrets’ is the track which perhaps best epitomizes the idea of Belle and Sebastian; it’s sweet, chilled, and twee, with a suitably cheerful riff. Truthfully, there’s not a single track on The Third Eye Centre which doesn’t go down like a good cup of tea. There’s enough variety to allow the album to sound fresh, without losing any of the band’s iconic sound. After teasing fans with this delightful offering, it is fair to say that any new material in the pipeline will be awaited even more eagerly than before.
