Belle and Sebastian are the quintessential college rock band, and those who are fans know the formula: somber, somewhat strange lyrics with sweet, peppy music. On their sixth album, Dear Catastrophe Waitress, which was released last week, the band finds themselves staying somewhat true to their formula while evolving into something different at the same time. An indication of this is that their lyrics and their melodies have gotten more upbeat and happy; the juxtaposition between Dear Catastrophe Waitress and an album such as If You Are Feeling Sinister is like hearing “Keep the Customer Satisfied” right before “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright” on Bridge Over Troubled Water. In fact, Dear Catastrophe Waitress draws many comparisons to Simon and Garfunkel, containing upbeat material (and the brass instruments that includes) and some somber balladry.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress begins with an enticing backbeat as “Step Into My Office, Baby,” a Beach Boys-inspired number, begins. The first reaction of Belle and Sebastian fans will be that of disappointment, because this doesn’t sound like the band we all know and love. But the new sound is airier and less restrained than some of their recent work, and in a way brings back some of the freshness of their classic debut, Tigermilk. “Dear Catastrophe Waitress” is more dramatic and also more traditional Belle and Sebastian fare. Stuart Murdoch loves to write about the downtrodden minority, and this song reads almost like a parody of that. An example lyric: “Dear Catastrophe Girlfriend/ I’m sorry if he hit you with a full can of Coke.”

“If She Wants Me” is pretty ordinary, but save for Tigermilk every B & S album has at least one dud. The song with the silliest title, “Piazza, New York Catcher,” is not a dud, however. How could a song containing the line “Piazza, New York catcher, are you straight or are you gay?” possibly be? The song (not really about Mike Piazza) is a lovely fantasy vacation in which Murdoch imagines taking his dream girl to see the Giants play the Mets in San Francisco. The silly lines don’t matter much; it’s the emotional weight of lines like “I love you I’m a drowning grip on your adoring face” that make this the best song on the record. And Stuart hasn’t forgotten his favorite characters. He describes a lonely pitcher: “Life outside the diamond is a wrench.”

“Asleep On a Sunbeam” is a little cheesy, but is cheese in the hands of Belle and Sebastian really cheese? If so, “I’m a Cukoo” certainly would be, but as it stands it is pretty damn delightful. The melody is undeniably catchy and the song is probably one of the happiest-sounding on the album. But B & S fans know that Stuart Murdoch is best at expressing sadness beneath a happy mask. “I’m happy for you/ Now I know this hurt is poison,” he sings in a chipper manner over jumping guitars, and lightens it up with a definitive chorus: “Something’s wrong with me, I’m a cukoo.”

The Simon and Garfunkel comparisons are evident throughout, but Belle and Sebastian still have to credit the same old British Invasion influences, most notably The Zombies and The Beatles. “You Don’t Send Me” is why I mention The Zombies, and it is so distinctly retro that it is quite a departure for the band. “You Don’t Send Me” and the next songs, “Wrapped Up in Books” and “Step Into My Office, Baby,” are significant evolutions in style, and imply a new sound that may be lurking around the corner for Belle and Sebastian. This is ultimately a good thing, though many fans are sure to complain. In recent albums, the band was in danger of getting stuck in a rut, and they seem to be doing what they can to pull themselves out. For now, they’ve changed just enough for us to notice, but they’re still the same band, and the characters they describe are still the same loveable losers.

This is glaringly obvious on “Lord Anthony,” the B & S-patented song about a boy who’s very smart and has a lot of trouble with the idiots in his life (mainly at school). This song has an almost identical premise to that of “Expectations” from Tigermilk. One has to wonder what Stuart Murdoch’s childhood was like with lines like “You might as well take it in the guts/ it can’t get any worse.” This is one of the somber ballads we’ve all come to know and expect from the band, and surprisingly it sounds a little like an Elton John song (“Levon”-era) sung in a delicate British voice. And Lord knows we’ve all wanted to hear that.

The album ends with the undeniable “If You Find Yourself Caught In Love,” ‘Roy Walker,” and “Stay Loose,” which has a fantastic opening line: “I was choking on a cornflake.” “Roy Walker’ has a strangely ’70s chorus that sounds a bit like ’70s mainstay America, and “Stay Loose” opens with a funky organ riff which itself validates my Zombies comparison. All in all, the album is different from what we’ve heard from Belle and Sebastian in the past. There are some similarities, and the direction in which they are headed is a promising one. Bands should change after almost a decade of productivity, and Belle and Sebastian have proved you can do it without alienating too many people. Dear Catastrophe Waitress is not the classic that Tigermilk was, but it is an example of how a band that was beyond mellow can have a little fun while still aging gracefully. The first line of “Roy Walker” describes this new Belle and Sebastian perfectly: “Like a fresh manifestation of an old phenomenon.”