Originally
published in Skyscraper
The Reindeer Section may be the biggest
supergroup no one's ever heard of, so if you have heard of this
Scottish band, you’re allowed to feel smug.
Members of (take a breath) Arab Strap, Astrid,
Belle & Sebastian, Idlewild, Mogwai, Mull Historical Society,
Snow Patrol, and Teenage Fanclub comprise the band, and Gary Lightbody
of Snow Patrol is the mad scientist who shocked this mad musical
monster to life. (The liner notes reveal that The Section weighs
4158 pounds and stands 162 feet tall.)
The Reindeer Section don't sound like a
monster, though, nor even a supergroup, this being a much more
intimate affair than the bombastic stuff created by other such
groups. Instead, Son of Evil Reindeer, the second Section album,
is composed chiefly of clean quiet, even gentle songs. You'd never
guess 27 musicians were involved. So let’s dispense with
that “supergroup” moniker, actually. Songs with the
achingly lovely strains of “Budapest” and the tender
melancholy of “Where I Fall” aren’t birthed
by supergroups. Supergroups don’t compose simple ringing
paeans to pleasure like “You are my Joy.” Nor can
you imagine “Cartwheels” with its gentle male and
female vocals leading into chiming guitars, being belted out by
a leather-clad, wavy-haired stringbean clasping a silver guitar
shaped like a fat letter “x.”
No, these are modest intimate songs, so
it's a somewhat startling transition when Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat
takes over the vocals on “Whodunnit,” a typically
drowsy exercise in melancholy for him, but an unexpected close
to the album. Maybe they’ll throw the bloke a mic more often
next time round.
Overall, Son of Evil Reindeer is a decidedly
unassuming effort, and despite the edgy personas of some involved,
there’s scarcely anything avant-garde or “alternative”
about it. It’s just simple solid songwriting set to catchy
tunes. And I can think of no higher praise for this lovely monstrosity.
Robert Stribley
Official
Web site
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