And so it has come to pass, new (old) material from the Strap, released to coincide with their 20 year anniversary reformation. A duo, creeping outta Falkirk around 1996, latterly adding other musicians, they were mainly Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton – they could be Scotland’s most original pop act of that era.
This is a reminder (again) of why they they were so good in the first place – from relatively odd beginnings (acoustic guitar, spoken word, really, WTF? That was ‘The First Big Weekend’!).
This double CD/download. or if you can’t be arsed to pay for music (well think again), is the distillation of the first 10 years of messy, pioneering sounds, it really is impossible to categorise this. And so much credit due to Chemikal for even signing them, Emma Pollok’s wee note reproduced on the liner of the Ten Years of Tears tells its own story…
There are some incredible tracks here, mainly known to Strap fans but can BM (a massive fan in the beginning, and ever, absolutely moist in anticipation of the upcoming live shows action) just emphasise, this can be music for everyone – there is poetry, soundclash, hilarity and blacker than black moments.
Best tracks for BM on this would have to be ‘The Shy Retirer’, with the immortal lines “these people are your friends, this c*nted circus never ends” , which sums so much of many people’s lives so far, stretching so far back, and into the future…(and “teenage Jenny Agutter, swimming…” – sublime… and wistful…)
So many deft touches, well, Arab Strap could be dismissed as some kind of a joke but the songs stay with you, over so many years – subtle electronica, fiddles, drums and of course the strident and at times earth-shattering Malc guitar lines.
This is a combo that Scotland should be proud of – warts, sexual diseases and all – BM salutes you, every track on this is flipping wonderful and a great trailer for the shows – Newcastle, then London, then you know where…