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Belle and Sebastian
Considering this band’s penchant for mystery and a determined lack of publicity, it’s no surprise that most people think of Belle and Sebastian as a male/female duo. Rather, they are a seven-piece band from Scotland, making music that is very typical of their homeland; reflective and well-structured, with a strong emphasis on pop-ish melodies (‘pop’ in the classic sense, NOT in the contemporary boy-band sense).
Of course, Nick Drake comes to mind. And their Scottish predecessors, Pre-Fab Sprout. Maybe a bit of Aztec Camera, too. That’s not a bad hybrid. Boy With the Arab Strap consists of fragile, whispered melodies that convey innocence, although the lyrics suggest something else entirely (the opening lyric is "He had a stroke at the age of 24…", for God’s sake!). The dichotomy of gorgeous, wispy music that sidesteps insouciance for self-analysis could be overbearingly precious if it were any less artful, but the album maintains a sense of balance that keeps it from capsizing into a sea of narcissism.
"It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career," "Sleep the Clock Around," and the title track are some of the most melodious songs I’ve heard in quite a while. A strange, recited song called "Space Boy Dream", with a TV-theme-type jazz-rock workout provides a bizarre but welcome mid-point, and it segues so beautifully into the Motown stomp of "Dirty Dream Number Two" that it can generate Goosebumps. This is not music for nightclubs. It is better suited to library lounges and bookstores – private moments rather than public ones - but the confidence of each song’s performance belies alienation. Is it a natural ease that informs each song, or is it ennui? Is the band enjoying a pastoral simplicity, or is somebody going to end up at the end of a dangling rope? This much sensitivity indicates an equal amount of vulnerability, which is exactly why these songs cannot be taken as lightly as the gently loping musical approach suggests.
Even with the suggestion of such weightiness, the songs are a genuine pleasure to hear, flowing by as calmly as a country stream. Each arrangement suggests an attention to detail and generally upbeat sensibility that would (or should) transcend any unreasonable pathos that lies beneath, making Boy With the Arab Strap an evocative and subtly moving work of art.
Grade: 
 
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