I vaguely remember when Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Saint Etienne's first single, came out. It's never been a favourite Neil Young song of mine, and they just seemed to be giving it a 'handbag house' arrangement. I couldn't really see the point of that, and it threw me off the scent of the band for about another nine years, until the Stephin Merritt connection put me back on their trail.
By the time I bought this, their first album, in 2004 (a fiver from Fopp, as usual), and came back to Only Love Can Break Your Heart, I'd heard most of their other stuff up that point. I still don't rate that song much, although it makes more sense in the context of the rest of the album. And I guess I'm surprised at how the Saint Etienne concept — concept is definitely what it is — was so fully formed right from the off with the first album. There's a sense I get of a cultural in-group who have all made the same connections in their visual style, the way they write, and the music they champion: chickfactor and Tangents are in on it; Douglas Coupland and Cindy Sherman embody different aspects of it. I'll never be part of it, not because it's a clique, but because I'm fundamentally lacking in the necessary style gene. I could try and pretend, but I'd give myself away very quickly. I'm not that tidy, and sooner or later I always end up choosing my clothes just on the grounds of what's near at hand.
There's a good observation in the sleeve notes by Jon Savage: "The idea is mental freedom: transformation of the familar. Primrose Hill, Staten Island, Gospel Oak, Sao Paolo, Boston Manor, Costa Rica, Arnos Grove, San Clemente, Maida Vale." It reminds me of Forced Entertainment's Nights in this City, one of my favourites of their performances, where they took us on a bus tour of Sheffield, re-imagining empty car parks as murder scenes and the hills as those of Beirut or Rome. Savage's list of place names is taken from Girl VII, and you might argue that it disproves my theory about English place names in songs, but I'd argue that the apparent need to spice up the list with exotic imports actually supports my case.
New gem I've only properly discovered on listening over the last couple of days: Like the Swallow. Great track.
 MusicBrainz entry for this album
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