I was thinking about seminal bands in Glasgow again and The Pastels popped once more into the empty void that constitutes my mind. A quick scamper into Monorail in Glasgow produced a copy of their "Illumination" album - released in 1997 - on glorious vinyl (this is the Vinyl Vault, after all). By this time, the core of the band consisted of Stephen McRobbie, Annabel Wright and Katrina Mitchell.
It was quite interesting listening to this album. Compared to mainstream productions - then and now - it appears almost shambolic. There is no real instrumental excellence on show and the vocals are frequently awkward but, as a piece of music, it does work well. The appeal of the Pastels is clear and, in some way, they are actually a representation of the punk ethos. This album does sound like you could do it yourself with a minimum of practice.
By this time of course, the Pastels were beyond singles and certainly the playfulness of their early recordings is not much in evidence. Having said that, they did have a solid fan base that had grown older with them so their leisurely, almost melancholic, approach to their music would actually have been appropriate.
As a collection, no particular songs stand out. If you are not selling singles then I don't suppose any has to. It might even have been a deliberate move by the band and that would probably explain why it is best to listen to this album in its entirety. It does seem to work a lot better that way and you can then understand why this band have become so influential. They are just not easily pigeonholed. I liked that and it was, in fact, a pleasure to listen to this album again (and I won't leave it so long until I listen to it again either).