Album:

Belle and Sebastian - Push Barman to Open Old Wounds

This Scottish band has made a furious rise to the top of the new wave rock scene. However, it seems that along the way they dropped some B-sides that they feel are worth a listen. The band was formed in 1995 in Glasgow and ever since have been playing the lighter side of contemporary rock. While they struggled to find early success their critically acclaimed albums devoloped a devout underground following. More recently Belle and Sebastian have engrossed more pop into their music and have thus claimed more comercial success. Still, they hang on to their modest beginings. "Push Barman to Open Old Wounds" displays their softest engineered musical talents. Songs about love, Scotland, and sheer randomness can be found on this collection. Even with the paucity of varying beats and melodies, Belle and Sebastian remain at the top of their game lyrically. Every song has a line that you feel could be coming out of psychologist's mouth and not some upstart singer. Their lyrics can paint a picture that the music can't. If you are in to that sort of thing check out "beautiful" the best track on the two cd set. It epitomizes high school crushes and heartbreaks. Other than that song, the album is very hit or miss, but that is to be expected from a B-side collection.