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The Boy with the Arab Strap

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The Boy with the Arab Strap
Studio album by
Belle & Sebastian
Released7 September 1998
StudioCaVa Studios, Glasgow
Genre
Length45:27
LabelJeepster / Matador (USA)
ProducerTony Doogan
Belle & Sebastian chronology
3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light
(1997) 		The Boy with the Arab Strap
(1998) 		This Is Just a Modern Rock Song
(1998)

The Boy with the Arab Strap is the third studio album by Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, released in 1998 through Jeepster Records.

Background and recording

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Belle and Sebastian released their second studio album If You're Feeling Sinister in November 1996, two months after signing to London-based label Jeepster Records. It was issued in the United States in early 1997; the choice to do this delayed the follow-up, with the band instead opting to release a trio of EPs – Dog on Wheels, Lazy Line Painter Jane and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light (all 1997). The EPs were successively climbing the UK chart while If You're Feeling Sinister was gaining traction at colleges in the US; the band performed in America for the first time at the CMJ Festival in late 1997.[3]

Stuart Murdoch recalled the recording process for this album felt very different from the previous two. The group spent several months working on it versus the previous albums which were recorded in just a number of days. The music itself was somewhat more experimental as well as more collaborative with some tracks written by Stevie Jackson and Isobel Campbell and more members of the group contributing vocals. Stevie Jackson sings lead on both "Seymour Stein" and "Chickfactor", Stuart David gives a spoken word performance on "A Space Boy Dream", whilst Isobel Campbell sings lead on "Is It Wicked Not to Care?" and duets with Murdoch on "Sleep the Clock Around".[4]

The inspiration for the album's name came from the band Arab Strap, who are also from Scotland and briefly toured with Belle and Sebastian. An Arab strap is a sexual device for retaining an erection, a fact unknown to Murdoch at the time.[5] Arab Strap were reportedly less than pleased with their inclusion in the title of the album. When questioned about it, Arab Strap's leader/singer, Aidan Moffat said, "They have a sense of humour." Malcolm Middleton, the band's instrumentalist, added, "Because Arab Strap is quite an interesting name. The words go well together. That's why we chose it as a band name. We're friends with them, but there's a limit to putting someone else's name on an album. They're taking away something from us." He also mentioned that the album had been confused as a collaboration between the bands.[6]

Release

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On 20 November 1999, the band made their TV debut, appearing on Apocalypse Tube.[7]

The album's cover photo was taken by Murdoch and shows band member Chris Geddes. The photo was taken as the group spent an afternoon near the River Ayr near Auchencruive.[4]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[8]
The Guardian[9]
Los Angeles Times[10]
NME8/10[11]
Pitchfork0.8/10 (1998)[12]
8.5/10 (2018)[13]
Rolling Stone[14]
Spin8/10[15]
Uncut[16]
The Village VoiceA−[17]

In a rave review for Uncut, Robert McTaggart declared that The Boy with the Arab Strap "marks Belle and Sebastian's arrival as a fully-fleshed group", finding that they "reveal a refreshing diversity" with the album's "increasingly rich and breathtaking arrangements".[16] Ben Ratliff of Rolling Stone welcomed "the greater richness and sophistication" of the music and said that while the band's previous records were "assiduously cloistered and rickety, best heard at private moments on headphones, this album's got brilliant Spector-sound sunsets."[14] Writing for Spin, Douglas Wolk believed that Belle and Sebastian's sense of "modesty" worked to the album's advantage: "Listen closely ... and you'll relish the tiny filigreed details, the unexpected instrumental accents they can pull off only by having half the group sit out half a song, Murdoch's wry turns of phrase and flip-flops between intertextual cleverness and heart-on-sleeve honesty."[15]

John Mulvey commented in NME that Belle and Sebastian "leaves almost all their contemporaries for dead" with a record that "locates an emotional chord largely neglected by the British mainstream since the demise of the Smiths, but is presented with an air of aloofness and/or shyness more suitable to a tiny side project of the Pastels."[11] Noting the album's "echoes of Ray Davies and Morrissey", Los Angeles Times critic Steve Hochman described Murdoch's lyrics as being steeped in "suspicions, fears, doubts and pointed barbs", yet also a "sympathy for his lyrical targets" that "tempers any nastiness."[10] The Village Voice's Robert Christgau observed that as a songwriter, Murdoch "pins his themes down one scenario at a time" in structured songs rather than "music that wanders hill and dale", achieving a sound that "comes out beautiful and fragile."[17]

Retrospectively, AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that The Boy with the Arab Strap, rather than exploring "new ground", "essentially consolidates the group's talents" and "offers another round of timeless, endlessly fascinating folk-pop treasures", showcasing Murdoch's "vicious wit" and "effortless gift for elegant melancholia".[2] Having panned it in 1998 as sounding like Belle and Sebastian "decided to parody themselves",[12] Pitchfork reappraised the album in 2018 as a "wholly beautiful and delicate" work featuring "some of their darkest and most detailed songs", with staff writer Scott Plagenhoef opining that the album's "precious" sound presaged the band's later move towards "more overt flourishes" and "happy-clappy, feel-good pop".[13]

In October 2011, NME placed the title track at number 130 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[18] The album sold 200,000 units through 2006.[19]

Track listing

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The Boy with the Arab Strap track listing
No.TitleLength
1."It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career"2:24
2."Sleep the Clock Around"4:58
3."Is It Wicked Not to Care?"3:22
4."Ease Your Feet in the Sea"3:35
5."A Summer Wasting"2:06
6."Seymour Stein"4:42
7."A Space Boy Dream"3:00
8."Dirty Dream Number Two"4:14
9."The Boy with the Arab Strap"5:14
10."Chickfactor"3:30
11."Simple Things"1:46
12."The Rollercoaster Ride"6:36
Total length:45:27

Personnel

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Belle and Sebastian

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Additional musicians

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  • Ian MacKay – bagpipes on "Sleep the Clock Around"
  • Neil Robertson – bass on "A Space Boy Dream"
  • Gail Anderson, Claire Campbell, Eilidh Campbell, Euan Forrester, David D MacKay and Sarah Willson – the string section on "A Space Boy Dream" and "Dirty Dream Number Two"

Charts

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Chart performance for The Boy with the Arab Strap
Chart (1998) Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[20] 39
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[21] 7
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[22] 30
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 12

References

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Citations

  1. ^ Butler, Will; Pollard, Alexandra (16 October 2015). "The most unforgivable Mercury album snubs of all time". Gigwise. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Boy With the Arab Strap – Belle and Sebastian". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  3. ^ Thompson 2000, p. 184
  4. ^ a b Murdoch, Stuart (28 March 2016). "Sleevenotes - The Boy With the Arab Strap". Belle & Sebastian.
  5. ^ "Belle & Sebastian: 'I Didn't Know An Arab Strap Was A Cock Ring'". 31 March 2014. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2015 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ Laurence, Alexander (May 2001). "An interview with Arab Strap". Free Williamsburg. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2006.
  7. ^ Thompson 2000, p. 185
  8. ^ Tucker 1998, p. 132
  9. ^ Sullivan 1998, p. 26
  10. ^ a b Hochman 1998, p. F10
  11. ^ a b Mulvey, John (5 September 1998). "Sebastian Coup". NME. Archived from the original on 25 November 1999. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  12. ^ a b Josephes, Jason (October 1998). "Belle & Sebastian: The Boy with the Arab Strap". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 4 June 2003. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  13. ^ a b Plagenhoef, Scott (18 February 2018). "Belle and Sebastian: The Boy With the Arab Strap". Pitchfork. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  14. ^ a b Ratliff 1998, pp. 96–98
  15. ^ a b Wolk 1998, p. 140
  16. ^ a b McTaggart 1998, p. 77
  17. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (15 December 1998). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  18. ^ "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years | NME.COM". www.nme.com. Archived from the original on 6 November 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  19. ^ Plagenhoef, Scott (15 September 2007). Belle & Sebastian's if You're Feeling Sinister. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781441194909.
  20. ^ "Lescharts.com – Belle and Sebastian – The Boy with the Arab Strap". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Belle and Sebastian – The Boy with the Arab Strap". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Belle and Sebastian – The Boy with the Arab Strap". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  23. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 June 2021.

Sources

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