Tigermilk

My criteria for three stars is " I would never put this on by choice but I wouldn't be upset if it happened to be on somewhere". This album comes in at 3.0000000000000

Well this is a toe tapper if I’ve ever heard one

I heard this a bunch when it was new. It’s fine, but it just doesn’t really grab me. I think maybe it’s the singing style that doesn’t work for me.

Slightly better than their other album on the list.

I am getting a Velvet Underground - Venus in Furs vibe from this and I am not mad at it.

Pamiętam, że miałam kilka podejść do tego zespołu, tak z 10 lat temu i żadne z nich się nie powiodło. To jest kolejne i znowu zawód. I to jest nawet okej, nie wszystko jest na tej liście dla mnie :)

I love The Boy With The Arab Strap and Dear Catastrophe Waitress, but never got around to listening to this one until now. It's not perfect, but pretty great for a debut album made on a shoestring budget. Really well written songs and melodies, with weird and interesting stories in the lyrics. Love the instrumentation - apart from Electronic Renaissance, which is a bit silly.

I’m at a 5.

The top review on the site makes a really hamfisted comparison; one that I loosely agree with, but feels diminishing all the same. In essence, I agree with the core: the heart behind this album comes in the honesty that underlines it & appealing to a community of people who have gone through these same ups & downs. If you can feel that communal sense in the lyrics or in the softness of the vocals & the overall instrumentation, you’ll probably find this to be a really well done album. However, I reject the idea that it has to be hard rock vs. this in an “available vs. artisanal” sense. Hard rock can speak as much to the soul as this does, they just attract different crowds. One shouldn’t negate the other.

The more apt comparison is comparing this album’s more genuine sense of self as being akin to a local coffee shop vs. a Starbucks. There are albums that try to appeal to these sensibilities, but without the same strong songwriting & the instrumental credibility that this album manages to maintain. You can trust your local coffee shop because you chose it, and it subconsciously speaks to who you are. It’s harder to trust a Starbucks in the same way. This album is the local coffee shop. I’m not sure what Starbucks is in this comparison, but it’s definitely not the Eagles.

A billion stupid metaphors aside, the actual music making up this album is really well done. Unlike “If You're Feeling Sinister”, which relied a bit more on its lyrics to carry the mood under the ‘lo-fi ska’ / shoegaze-y vibes of its instrumentals, this album feels significantly more traditional, with a wider variety of rock-influenced soundscapes (& a brief but cool detour to faux-80s synthpop in “Electronic Renaissance”). It’s still indie rock & pop at its core, but you can hear stuff that feels way closer to the contemporaries of the time, mixed with a lot of 60s/70s influence underneath. This album evokes everyone from the Beatles to Van Morrison to Hootie & The Blowfish, yet it still feels distinct all the same. Something about Stuart Murdoch’s calm delivery gives these tracks a sense of intimacy that strips back the bombast present in all of its influences & makes it feel more real. It helps that a lot of these tracks have named characters & smaller details in their lyrics, giving just enough for the imagination to fill out further. Combine that vividness & intimacy with soft yet energetic instrumentation throughout, and it all creates a super specific vibe that I can’t really capture in words. It’s just there. It’s that damn coffee shop that you keep going back to.

It’s an album made for the misfits of the world that don’t want to conform to expectations, for better or for worse, and it’s speaking to them with the same sense of weight as say, the Beatles talking about Eleanor Rigby. “Mary Jo” is pretty obviously inspired by it, to some degree, but there’s elements of that same weight throughout the album. I don’t want to get into the weeds of the lyricism, but the connecting thread that underlines these tracks is an overwhelming sense of disconnection. It’s disconnection from parents, from love, from classmates, from bandmates, from friends, from the future, from the past, & so much more. Every track has someone disconnected to something, & that applies to the lyrical/instrumental connection all the same, with a lot of sadder lines underlined by peppier guitar, bass & brass sections. It’s a strong enough thread that once you get the point of the album, it’s easy enough for the instrumentation to carry it, even if you get lost on what the lyrics are intending.

Overall, it’s just an album that really appeals to me, for both tangible & intangible reasons. It’s one that you just kinda have to ‘get’. At face value, it is a twee piece of lo-fi chamber pop with a ‘woe is me’ vibe, and if you can only see it that way, then it is what it is. If you can connect to it in that intangible way that appeals to your senses, you’ll end up enjoying it. I’ve enjoyed it to the point of a 5, and for my money’s worth, it’s a richer album than “If You’re Feeling Sinister”. There might be moments where tracks go slightly long or the lyrics get a bit open-ended, but as an entire package, it just pulled me in really nicely. I’m glad it’s on the list.

So… a fake version of oasis with fake fans from a fake version of england

I know of them, but didn’t know the songs. Nice indie pop songs here. Soft and jangly.

I wouldn't say it was a bad listen at all; the arrangements are actually really intricate and pleasant, however this style of soft indie just vaporizes me for some reason. I'm sure even fans of the album will understand!

Standouts: Electronic Renaissance • I Could Be Dreaming • My Wandering Days Are Over

By coincidence, I’m going to see Belle & Sebastian live later this week. The gig is celebrating 30 years of If You’re Feeling Sinister but I might like Tigermilk even more. Still, looking forward to seeing them with a crowd of my fellow middle-aged twee indie kids.

As always, plus one for horns. This is my second B&S album from the list. I liked the first one better.

Just the most twee.

Consistently pretty and thoughtfully-composed folk pop that provides an easily returnable listening experience. Vocally the off-kilter style really befits the light instrumentation with small flourishes of orchestral flair. Each track works and the record really reminds me of the feeling at the end of the movie "Before Sunrise-" like you've spent hours with a beautiful woman but have to leave her soon and the feeling is creeping up. A new favorite record!

Важко сказати чому, але маю певний сентимент до цього гурту. При цьому я навряд зможу назвати умовно 3 пісні. Але є щось добре в музиці Belle & Sebastian, щось дуже таке чарівне. 3.5 ставлю.

Oh come on, more late-90s hipster indie folk? Really? Anyway, this wasn't too interesting. It has some bits that were actually pretty good, but the whole album was just meh. The lyrics were nothing special, but the songcraft is easily the best part. The pointless synth track in the middle of the album ruins its pacing. In summary, this is a 3 star album. It's good in places, but not stellar as a whole.

Tigermilk is a really lovely album, and I was pleased to see it come up on a sunny Friday morning. I’ve always liked Belle and Sebastian, and this album is a great example of their unique style and sound.

Their music feels whimsical, beautiful, and eclectic, blending indie pop with thoughtful storytelling in a way that was very different from much of what was around at the time. Every song is packed with lovely lyrics, and the album flows naturally from start to finish. While I probably prefer later albums like The Boy with the Arab Strap and tracks such as Step Into My Office, Baby, this is still a really enjoyable listen.

I especially love Stuart Murdoch’s voice. It’s soft, understated, and perfect for storytelling. His lyrics really connect throughout the album, and songs like The State I Am In feel deeply personal while still being relatable and meaningful.

Favourite tracks: Mary Jo, Expectations, and The State I Am In are all lovely tracks.
Least favourite tracks: Every song deserves its place on the album.
Album artwork: Like most Belle & Sebastian covers, it’s simple, stylish, and thoughtfully designed.

Belle and Sebastian are another one of those bands that I know from the radio and other people's record collections. I'm always like "oh yeah, yay, Belle and Sebastian" - and I love "Lazy Line Painter Jane" - but never really spent time with an entire record of them.

Anyway, I thought all of Tigermilk was great, from the beginning to the end - music that's indiepop but more interesting, somehow, and lyrics that also seem like a predictable sort of pop song but come off very differently when you listen to them closely.

So, 5 stars for this one too.

This made me want reminded me of Nick Drake, made me pine for jim Croce, and made me want to listen to Death Cab for Cutie.

I think that's all I have to say, and I'm just as confused by my review as you are, so don't sweat it

⭐⭐.75