Shaun Corley | Staff Writer

Woo-hoo! I finally get to review a Belle and Sebastian album for Whim!

Some of Belle and Sebastian's finest songs are found on their numerous LPs' such as "A Century of Fakers" on 3...6...9 Seconds of Light and "Take Your Carriage Clock and Shove It" on Belle and Sebastian Sing Jonathan David. Their sixth LP, I’m Waking Up to Us, continues this fine tradition.

The title track is the perfect post-breakup song, nailing down all that jealousy and bitterness that ensues. Sounds like heavy stuff, doesn't it? Yet, the music, and Stuart Murdoch's singing, is so melodramatic that it's really hard to take the song too seriously. If it wasn't for the string accompaniment, the song would fit nicely on If You're Feeling Sinister.

The group has often cited The Beach Boys as an influence, and it shows on the skippy "I Love My Car" (they even mention the members of the Beach Boys in the song). "Marx and Engels," the final track, starts off as a socially conscious sounding track, but Belle and Sebastian have never been ones to wear their politics on their sleeves. The guy is probably just saying this stuff to impress the psuedo-intellectual girl he's wooing in a laundromat.

After all is said and done, I'm Waking Up to Us is a return to form for Belle and Sebastian, after two somewhat disappointing releases, and doubles as a nifty intro to this unique group.

For more info, head to the band's website.