Scottish indie pop band Belle and Sebastian took five years to produce their latest album, “Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance.” Not everyone loves it because that would mean acknowledging the band — which was formed nearly 20 years ago — has changed. Plus, many of Belle and Sebastian’s most loyal fans are cynical about the band’s growing popularity; they’re afraid popularity is turning the band into comfortable artists who make weak, lazy art.
After watching the video for the new hit “The Party Line,” German Q. writes on YouTube: “god I wish it was 1996, all we get from B&S now is this shit. I wonder what happened to the band I used to love, their first 3 albums are like, so dear to me.” When a newcomer dives into the conversation, “I had never even heard of these guys until now. Weird. And they’ve been around since the 90s apparently” he is sent straight to the past by Gary Malarkey who writes: “You missed all their good stuff then. Get a time machine and go back to 1996.” Irawn Juanada seems to have a handle on the situation: “So, whoever likes this has bad taste? Really? Oh, open your mind and ears and just enjoy it, folks. Moreover, I love it! I don’t choose to like something just to tell people that I have good taste or bad taste or to create any kind of image in people’s mind about my quality as a human being based on the music I like. I just enjoy it. And it’s good! You go, B&S!!! :D”
