
		8

Arab Strap

Monday at the Hug & Pint

Matador | 2003 | Album

Biography

Comments (0)

Read Full Page

Digg Review

Add del.icio.us

A fine outing from the pride of Glasgow. Aidan Moffat delivers his pub -soaked lyrics with a nice mix of honesty and humor. Malcolm Middleton provides memorable acoustic melodies to make "Monday At The Hug & Pint" one of the better releases from this year.

The set opens with "Shy Retirer". A catchy little folk-disco number with some fine lyrics by Aidan. The line "you jump-start my serotonin" struck me as a great lyric. "Fucking Little Bastard" opens with some martial drumming followed by wonderful feedback guitar. A nod to fellow Scots Jesus And Mary Chain or Mogwai. Either way, it's a fun song! "Peep Peep" begins with an ultra simple drum machine rhythm and builds in a very atmospheric way with fine string playing. The violin /cello playing by Stacey Sievwright / Jenny Reeve is quite fine. My favorite track is "Flirt". The mix of lyrics/acoustic guitar playing and fine drumming kept me coming back for more listens.

Arab Strap may not be for every taste. Aidans singing is an acquired taste, but he has a personal vision. That is something very rare these days. "Monday At The Hug & Pint" is a truly fine recording that will be in my CD player for a good long time.

J. Marsh