Album: The Boy With The Arab Strap
Artist: Belle & Sebastian
Label: Jeepster (UK) Matador (US)
Release date: September 7, 1998
Chart position/sales: (UK) 12 / (UK) GOLD
Glasgow's indie-pop band Belle & Sebastian's quirky, palatable, 60s-influenced tunes have caused them to be mentioned in the same breath as such influential musicians as The Smiths, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. But there’s a good chance you haven’t yet heard of them, because for some reason this quietly sophisticated little band has not achieved mainstream success outside of the UK, where they have had two silver and two gold albums.
All that could be about to change, with an Australian trip planned for 2011 in the hope of winning some southern hemisphere favour. Despite my rookie Belle & Sebastian fan status, I secured a ticket for myself on the invitation of a friend...I listened to just three songs before I decided I'd go. That's how convinced I was. After the fact, I decided I'd better familiarise myself with more of their work so as to better appreciate their concert. Hence my choice to listen to what is arguably their best album to date and review it here. So in a nutshell, we’re going to find out if I acted stupidly or not…
The Boy With The Arab Strap is the third album from Belle & Sebastian, preceded by two years by If You're Feeling Sinister, which went silver in the UK but only peaked at 191 in the charts. To date, The Boy With The Arab Strap is Belle & Sebastian's most popular album, although it did cause a dispute between them and fellow Scottish band Arab Strap - with whom they toured briefly - who disagreed with B&S' decision to use their name in the title. As far as titles go, I really liked this one until I discovered the slightly unsavoury sexual connotation which irks me because it seems rather out of place with the music. But hopefully that will be my only criticism…
The album opens with 'It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career', a cryptic, presumably biographical song that shows the kind of innovation and creativity that the whole album is permeated with. Short but catchy melodic hooks that open up the tune and introduce a gradually expanding instrumentation and building vocals; unusual phrase lengths that shouldn't work but do - occasionally running words together over the beat in a way that is so close to falling apart that it is all the more satisfying when it stays together, and even more so when an infectious little melody comes out of what you thought was going to be a dead-end. It is clear from the first that Belle & Sebastian are doing their own thing, and doing it well.
A number of quirky, pop-y tracks later, 'Seymour Stein' is the first song to really change the direction of the album. With a slow pace and languid, haunting vocals, it provides a gentle respite from the sparkling pace and copious lyrics of the previous tracks. It's followed by Stuart David's curious spoken performance of 'A Space Boy Dream' – further proof that B&S are doing it ‘their’ way. A simple recount of a childish dream, an epic guitar riff after the 1 minute mark threatens to launch the song in a totally different direction, but...it doesn’t. Slight disappointment on that one, though points for letting us hear the throaty loveliness of the Glasgow accent.
Instead, the rest of the album is left to pick up the pace, which it does remarkably well in the next four songs, starting with the title track itself. Title tracks have long been a gripe of mine because their creativity usually stops at the title, leaving the song itself to steep in the pool of disappointment that gradually gathers as the listener realises that the only reason the song made it onto the album was its name. But 'The Boy With The Arab Strap' is by far one of the best tracks on the album. A peppy hand clap chorus and cheeky piano chords make for a delightful upbeat tune which ignores its broody lyrics. It is followed by another song of note (no pun intended…but yes, I felt the need to point it out all the same), ‘Simple Things’, which contains one of the most infectious indie guitar riffs you’ll ever hear and is definitely a stand-out song on the album. Just when you thought they’d run out of tricks…
And what of the Belle & Sebastian ‘sound’ overall? The lyrics are whimsical and usually don't make sense except from line to line - the overall lyric theme is difficult to grasp and the accompaniment is often strangely incongruent with the words; but it doesn't seem to matter as the words float amongst steady bass, driving snare rhythms, upbeat piano chords, jangling guitar leads and melancholy violin notes, forming a mix that is by turns intricate and smooth. Vocals are shared around the band on this album, but their trademark floating vocal style is not lost by any performer and keeps the continuity of the sound.
The one word that springs to mind while listening to The Boy With The Arab Strap, is consistency. The same gentle, yet driving beats and soothing vocals meant I could tap my foot throughout the whole album almost without changing speed from track to track – and there were no sudden changes that had me leaping for the volume control lest I cause my neighbours to become forcibly acquainted with my musical taste by way of a considerably heightened decibel level. No, it was smooth sailing all the way through. The only problem B&S seem to have musically is that their best songs end ungracefully and too soon (as if they were afraid to make them too good) and the less interesting ones have epically long outros. That aside, it is perfect pop, but with an indie twist (so it's better) and there isn't a song that disappoints. In a way, it’s almost too consistent – after listening to the entirety of The Boy… quite a few times, both as background music and consciously listening, I got a little tired of the predictability of mood. However, don’t be lured into labelling this as background music – there is too much ingenious musicality in there to be ignored.
Something tells me that that concert ticket isn’t going to be a mistake. Easily the best contemporary band I’ve heard for a very, very long time. 3.5/5 stars
Listen to: The Boy With The Arab Strap, Simple Things, Summer Wasting
Is it worth my $$$? – In short. YES. However, despite being well impressed with Belle & Sebastian’s consistent standard of creativity, I’m not digging my hands into my pockets just yet. Although it would be a very worthy addition to my collection I want to listen to a wider range of their work before deciding on my favourite album. From the other songs I’ve heard, Dear Catastrophe Waitress (which also went gold in the UK) and their latest release, Write About Love, are also set to impress me and I intend to listen to those before adding a Belle & Sebastian album to my wishlist. I shall keep you updated on my progress :)
Next up... Break of Reality!
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