Review by Peter J. D'Angelo
Belle & Sebastian fans should be sure to snap up this three-song release, which, while short in length, is a more quality follow-up to the band's lackluster Fold You Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant. The record opens with the gorgeous light pop twinkle of "Jonathan David," a surprisingly upbeat number that bounces along to one of the stronger drum tracks ever to grace one of the group's records. It's an outrageously catchy song, and up there with the band's best high-spirited material. Following that is "Take Your Carriage Clock and Shove It," a more typical and airy number that flirts with dullness as it flutters in and out only to be saved by fragile string arrangements and some particularly venomous sentiments in singer Stuart Murdoch's lead vocal line. Closing out the record is one of the band's previously unreleased, but longtime live staples, "The Loneliness of a Middle Distance Runner," a shuffling track with a surprising classic rock guitar solo and some evocative acoustic guitar work throughout. Belle & Sebastian have always been critical darlings but a constant output of material of this caliber could win them even more appeal. A band doesn't gain respect by being idle or repetitive, and this record proves that the band is neither, as it strikes out and improves on the group's always-original sound.
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