#313 (of 365) "I'm Waking Up to Us" Belle and Sebastian

This band is a blast from the past. Legend has it they created their first album as an art project in college and both Tigermilk and follow-up, the legendary If You're Feeling Sinister came out in 1996. "Twee" was a term possibly invented for the band, but boy were those early tracks super catchy and brilliant. After a series of EPs, the prolific band came out with The Boy with the Arab Strap in 1998, but the albums that followed were less well-received and by the time of The Life Pursuit in 2005 (now on a "major" label, Rough Trade), I kind of lost interest in the band's new music. This was also at the point that original members Stuart David and Isabel Campbell departed the band and they have really never been the same again. Interestingly, though, 2005 also saw the release of a massive collection of older songs titled Push Barman to Open Old Wounds, which featured all of their singles and EPs from their original Jeepster label. That's when I discovered some of their many, many classics, like "This is Not a Modern Rock Song" and "A Century of Fakers" and "Put the Book Back on the Shelf." It's a great introduction to the band, for anyone who isn't already a fan. This is the only track that ended up making this countdown from that collection, though, released originally as a single in 2001.

"I'm Waking Up To Us" - Belle and Sebastian // I'm Waking Up to Us (2001) & Push Barman to Open Old Wounds (2025)