November 13-19, 2003

musicpicks

Belle and Sebastian

by Patrick Rapa

Rock/pop

OK, everybody just relax. I know we're all worried that Belle and Sebastian are reaching some sort of cuteness breaking point. Our fears are not without merit, of course. The kids certainly threatened to jump the dolphin somewhere around "A Space Boy Dream," if not earlier. And there are moments on their new Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Rough Trade) that are so overbearingly adorable, so oppressively precious, that we must run for cover lest we be lashed with Twizzlers and pelted with plush Hello Kitty dolls. The quaint grandeur of "I'm a Cuckoo." The ultra-clever theatrics of "Step into My Office, Baby." In small doses and snippets, this kind of thing is indeed palatable, but it would all be too much to bear if the whole album was as silly and Muppet-ish as "Roy Walker," with its handclaps and incessant chorus: "I wandered all night/ I wondered all night/ about you-hoo." But, people, we must be calm. For one thing, everything's just about as rocking and dancy as it's always been; Stuart Murdoch and his dozen or so bandmates still pile on the strings, horns and head-bobbing beats. For another, the lyrics have retained at least some of that good old B&S passive edginess and those lovely, confused sexual undertones. (And sometimes it's even overtones: Check out "Piazza, New York Catcher.") We need only listen to the sneaky menace of the title track or the somberly rebellious "Lord Anthony" to feel like the good times are mostly still rolling. Plus, I mean, honestly, if we weren't into "cute" we wouldn't have stuck with the band this far.

Fri., Nov. 14, 8 p.m., $26, with Rasputina, Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow St., Upper Darby, 215-336-2000.

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