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For those of you that don't know, I am a big ol' dork. I'm sort of a fag (cuz you can be a fag without being a homosexual), I'm a wuss, and I'm on occasion a sissy. So, you will understand that I LOVE the new Belle and Sebastian album, "The Life Pursuit".

B&S has taken over the title of "Grant Bennett's Favorite Band", a coveted title held for years by They Might Be Giants. I'm pretty sure there were fights. That's how coveted it was.

Anyway, some people might not like the new direction that Stuart Murdoch has taken the band -- less baroque pop, more traditional pop. I say, "Fuck 'em." Yes, there's less flute and cello on this album, but the melodies and lyrics are unmistakeably B&S. And, there is one line in particular that grabs me. It's from "Act of the Apostle II".

"My Damascan Road's my transistor radio."

Holy crap.

Many people have faith. Many people go to church. I have little faith in anything, and, much to the disappointment of my mother, I'm not an active church-goer. However, I do have rocknroll. When I'm at a good rock show, I feel cleansed. I let the volume wash over me, through me, within me. All my sins are washed away, and new ones are given seed. I can move about like an idiot, I can yell and shake my fist and make like I am at a revival meeting, with the minister played by a charasmatic band leader, hearing the bass and drums, shaking with awe at the guitar solo, jealous of the wordplay but rejoicing in the moment, trying to not spill my beer or run into the person next to me.

That's how I judge a good show. If the scales fall off of my eyes, and I see what can be, rather than what is. If I want to go home and write songs, pick up my warped guitar and fumble around with the strings, if I think that "By God, I can write a number one summertime jam!", then I have been saved. At least, for a little while.

Any good ideas I have fade by morning. I think that it happens because I'm not as smart as I'm given credit for. Or because I sober up by morning and think better of the "good" ideas.

So, to sum things up, I'm a pussy, I like pop music, and I think that rocknroll has healing powers.
posted by Grant Bennett at 1:40 AM