Tigermilk

Originally released in an edition of 1,000 vinyl LPs as part of a college music business course, Belle & Sebastian's 1996 debut TIGERMILK rapidly became a highly sought-after collector's item. Reissued in 1999 to combat a flood of expensive bootlegs, the album shows that the band's later acclaim was not unfounded. more...

Nine of the 10 tracks feature main songwriter Stuart Murdoch's winsome vocals, a mix of acoustic and electric instrumentation and a grab-bag of pianos, horns, flutes, and hand claps. The odd one out of the bunch is "Electronic Renaissance", an electronic keyboard knockabout that recalls Depeche Mode's more insistent moments from the Vince Clarke era. Standouts among the other tracks are "Expectations", the tale of a square peg at school who is "known for being strange/Making life-size models of the Velvet Underground in clay", the lyrically wistful but musically charged "She's Losing It", and "I Don't Love Anyone", which references Felt, a band Belle & Sebastian cites among its influences.

Rolling Stone (9/2/99, p.110)
- 3 stars (out of 5)
- "...TIGERMILK offers a rough sketch of the band's virtues....it's prime Belle and Sebastian - the beautiful music of shut-in roues stung by the pangss of youth and taking it out on us."

Spin (11/03, p.110)
- "...As surprising as a sunny day in Glasgow and twice as warm..."

Q (9/99, p.124)
- 4 stars (out of 5)
- "...may well be Belle & Sebastian's best collection and is certainly a manifesto of sorts for their now rightly lauded, very special talent..."