Arab Strap
The Last Romance
Transdreamer
2006
Rating: 7 broken pint glasses out of 10
On their sixth full-length album, it actually sounds like the depressed lads in Arab Strap have turned a corner and become…happier? At least that was my initial impression, until you listen a little more closely and realize that their lyrics are just as morbid and downtrodden as ever – “sometimes there’s nothing sexier than knowing that you’re doomed” is just a random sample line from one of their songs, and that’s actually rather tame for their gloomy output. What has happened, though, is that Aidan Moffat and company have become more upbeat in as far as the tempo of their songs - which to a fool like me equals “happier” since I rarely pay attention to lyrics. But Arab Strap are the rare exception – Moffat is so damn good at telling stories with his songs it’s hard to resist, often feeling as if you are eavesdropping on that crusty old drunk at the local bar as he regales the bartender with his tales of woe. Their uniquely Scottish take on life and music sounds like what you might get if you locked Nick Cave and the Black Heart Procession in a dank Glasgow pub for a few weeks, only on this go around someone must have slipped some uppers into their pints because I never would have thought this band would produce and album this up-tempo and full of hooks. Is it the best album they have released? It’s still too soon to tell for me, but it’s a damn good album at least on par with their finest work.
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