The Reindeer Section
Bright Star Recordings
How does a "super-group" begin? In most cases, alcohol is involved, as it most definitely was in this one. Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, chief instigator of this new ensemble, says the world has Lou Barlow to thank for the emergence of The Reindeer Section, for it was at a Barlow gig in Glasgow attended by many of The Section's eventual contributors that Lightbody ran around drunkenly asking people if they would join his band The Reindeer Section. They all said yes, so after sobering up the next day, Lightbody got out the old acoustic guitar and wrote an album's worth of songs. After going to Belfast to get the new Bright Star label to sign off on the idea, Lightbody returned to Glasgow and assembled the band, which then spent ten alcohol-filled days recording the album Y'All Get Scared Now, Ya Hear!.
In case you were wondering what exactly is "super" about the group, here are its members: there's Lightbody, who sings and plays guitar, keyboards, and harmonica, his Snow Patrol bandmate Jonny Quinn (drums), Mogwai's John Cummings (guitar), all four members of Astrid, Eva's Jenny Reeve (occasional vocals and violin), Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat (lead vocals on one track), Belle and Sebastian's Richard Colburn (occasional percussion and pigeon noises) and Mick Cooke (trumpet and flugelhorn on one track), Mull Historical Society's Colin McInytre (harmony on one track) -- and a few others. You could even say that Lou Barlow makes an appearance, since the album's folky, lo-fi, downbeat flavor is to some extent indebted to his stylistic experiments, and since, of course, Reindeer Section was conceived at one of his shows. For all its contributors, Y'All Get Scared Now is a surprisingly cohesive collection of subtle, intelligent Scottish indie pop songs, even while clearly showcasing everyone's individual contributions. Let's hope the band gets together again sometime soon.
Jesse Ashlock
last updated:
11/16/01
Y'all Get Scared Now, Ya Hear!
Will You Please Be There For MeThe Opening Taste12 Hours It Takes SometimesDevianceIf There Is I Haven't Found It YetFire BellIf Everything Fell QuietI've Never UnderstoodRaindropStingBilled As SingleTout Le MondeNytolThe Day We All Died
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