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God Help The Girl
by
  • Record Label:
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God Help The Girl Image
Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 12 Ratings

  • Summary: The sountrack to Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch musical movie of the same name, which is scheduled to be filmed in 2010.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 19
  3. Negative: 1 out of 19
  1. The A.V. Club
    83
    Ireton’s vocals grow more appealing with each listen, as does the album. Murdoch has created such a lush, cinematic world here that turning Girl into a movie almost feels redundant.
  2. Mojo
    80
    God Help The Girl has real class. [Jul 2009, p.99]
    All this publication's reviews
  3. PopMatters
    80
    God Help the Girl, old-fashioned and without artifice though it may be, is supremely welcoming. Its charm--and those tunes!--are likely to make it an album you find yourself returning to, again and again, for the simple joy of listening to it.
  4. Paste Magazine
    77
    While there are fewer barbs and the atmosphere is less filigreed, as with Belle & Sebastian , you’re either down with the twee or not. Tuneful as this is, it’s hard to write it off without feeling like a rockist grinch.
  5. Pitchfork
    75
    God Help the Girl is a spirited expansion of some of Murdoch's best ideas, but until the film finishes shooting--set to start next year--we'll probably just have wild-ass guesses like mine as to the real story.
  6. cokemachineglow
    63
    It just simply seems that Stuart Murdoch isn’t a very portable songwriter: he may be able to write Stuart Murdoch songs for Stuart Murdoch, but translated to anything but his music frequently exhibits its participants’ weaknesses, and the end result is unsettling and unfulfilling like few Belle and Sebastian products are.
  7. New Musical Express (NME)
    10
    Ireton’s voice has an unschooled grace which elevates ‘Hiding Neath My Umbrella’ to the status of an interesting, if flimsy, curio in Murdoch’s canon. It’s just a shame the rest of the record, and the new recruits, are so fucking woeful.

See all 19 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. cupofbeans
    Oct 15, 2010
    10
    This is a fabulous album containing beautiful pop songs. It's not a 'flawed work' at all but a fully realised work that sounds hauntinglyThis is a fabulous album containing beautiful pop songs. It's not a 'flawed work' at all but a fully realised work that sounds hauntingly familiar yet new simultaneously. I can't recommend it highly enough and it's rarely been off my CD player since I bought it. I would like to hear much more from Mr Murdoch and his collaborators.… Expand
  2. OttoD
    Aug 13, 2009
    10
    Really the best album I've bought in years. Beautifully naive music.
  4. johnL
    Aug 15, 2009
    9
    Beautiful, it has really grown on me. Not really a bad song and several great tracks.
  5. Sjoerdd
    Jul 21, 2009
    9
    I really love the album. It is simply a Belle and Sebastian album with a different perspective and realization. The songs are very good and I really love the album. It is simply a Belle and Sebastian album with a different perspective and realization. The songs are very good and depict the story nicely. The singers have been chosen very well, and it just get more appealing with every listen.… Expand
  6. Dahopa
    Apr 24, 2013
    9
    I listen to this album. It never gets old. In fact, in my rather large library it is probably the album played the most in recent times. II listen to this album. It never gets old. In fact, in my rather large library it is probably the album played the most in recent times. I am hesitant about the promised film if only because I fear it might not live up to the images I have created in my own head. But I will watch when it comes out.… Expand
  7. awkwardMEOW
    Sep 5, 2014
    9
    Super fabulous music!! A few of the songs are so catchy and poignant it's crazy. Maybe I am a twee maniac, but I feel everyone should findSuper fabulous music!! A few of the songs are so catchy and poignant it's crazy. Maybe I am a twee maniac, but I feel everyone should find these songs fun and pretty.… Expand
  8. ChristianT
    Jul 21, 2009
    3
    I am a massive B&S fan, but gave this one listen and put it on the junk pile. There are maybe three listenable tracks and two of them are I am a massive B&S fan, but gave this one listen and put it on the junk pile. There are maybe three listenable tracks and two of them are recycled from B&S' last release. The rest of it is quite bizarre and sometimes downright unsettling. Murdoch clearly needs the rest of the band to keep him from going bonkers.… Expand

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