Scottish Idol: now 300% more sensitive
While Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch seems a bit retiring for the role of Simon Cowell, his process of auditioning female vocalists for the pseudo-musical God Help the Girl really should have been filmed. While one presumes vocalist Catherine Ireton has a bit more hipster flare than Susan Boyle, her discovery is in itself quite stunning, as her girly charm out-Zooeys Zooey on the title track. Add two vocalists who won an online competition, Asya from teen band Smoosh and a few instrumental tracks, and it’s fresh without being much of a departure from Murdoch’s previous work. While there are fewer barbs and the atmosphere is less filigreed, as with Belle & Sebastian, you’re either down with the twee or not. Tuneful as this is, it’s hard to write it off without feeling like a rockist grinch.
Listen to God Help the Girl on MySpace.