Ten years. Has it really been ten years? The memories come flooding back. My tiny room at halls at Cardiff University, a walkman permanently welded in my pocket as I walk to and from lectures. A friend lends me an album. “It’s by a Scottish band called Idlewild”, he says. I pop into my walkman. Ok. This is good… Very good. Punk rock guitars, literary reflections and tunes to boot. Idlewild, where have you been all my life?

And so it begins, my infatuation with one of Scotland’s greatest exports that, looking back, failed to capitalise on their success. The release of this “Best Of” collection surmising the first 10 years of the band is handsomely titled “Scottish Fiction” and maybe, in the end, that was their problem. They were perhaps always a little too clever for the mainstream. They had all the tunes, as this 17 track selection shows, but they had artistic pretensions. And the mainstream has never liked that. Has there ever been a pop song with the opening line of: “It’s a better way to feel / Don’t be real, be post-modern” (“Roseability”). You can’t really imagine someone singing that on Top of the Pops now, can you?

Some Idlewild fans will argue that this doesn’t reflect their band that well. It’s a bit top heavy – most of the songs here are from the more REM-friendly section of their back catalogue with only two songs from their classy debut, Hope Is Important. However, I still believe that they’ve not released a bad album. Sure, they never truely hit the punk highlights of their debut. But, everyone grows older and mellows and it feels as though I’ve grown up with Idlewild and mellowed as well.

I still find myself moved by the tracks “Love Steals Us From Loneliness”, “Let Me Sleep (Next To The Mirror)”, “American English”, “Roseability” and “In Remote Part / Scottish Fiction”. Perhaps I’m just an emotional person, but these tracks have always found themselves on mix tapes during relationships as I try to impress girls with my deep and (obviously) hidden poetic heart. But such is life. 100 Broken Windows is still one of my all-time favourite albums and will probably stand as Idlewild’s defining moment. This was the time when they got the mix perfect between their REM-influenced literary rock and their punk past. This is reflected on this “Best Of”as tracks from this album dominate the selection.

Of course, it’s still a “Best Of” album and I could easily swap out tracks like “El Capitan” and “No Emotion” for other gems missed off like “Actually It’s Darkness” and “You’ve Lost Your Way”. But then, that’s always the argument with these things. However, as a place to start for someone new to the band then it’s a perfect introduction. In fact, if you’ve not heard Idlewild before then I’d advise you strongly to pick this up. Before long you’ll find yourself lost and overcome by the brilliance of this oft-overlooked band.
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Links
Idlewild [official site] [myspace] [buy it]