The Week Never Starts Round Here

Arab Strap

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 23, 1998)
• Original Release Date: 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Matador Records
• ASIN: B000006OK8
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #318,169 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Arab Strap make folk music. Not the touchy-feely kind. The real kind--music made by folks. These Falkirk, Scotland, deadbeats have stripped their music down to its barest bones, crisscrossing spoken word and music to reflect the bleakness of the refinery town they hail from. A strumming guitar drifts out of one speaker while dark, disaffected poetry about sad, drunken nights and lost chances with lost girls issues from the other. Starkly honest, the lyrics slowly burn like cigarettes left on a mattress as they describe murky sexual encounters and the grim face-offs that follow. It's downer music, but it's so elegantly conceived that it engages a wider band of thought than simply sadness. The album's centerpiece is the trip-hoppy "The Clearing," a slow, sexy lament with piano and cello contributions from Chris Geddes and Isobel Campbell from Belle & Sebastian. "And now the things that used to turn me off, I find endearing / And they laugh behind the trees and she lays naked in the clearing." This is what life sounds like. --Lois Maffeo

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars beautifully simple and hideously depressing, August 8, 2000

By	chris wildeman (carlisle, pa) - See all my reviews

if you are the kind of person who will listen to their friend sob in a drunken stupor about how miserable they are, then you will love this album, even though it could drive somebody over the edge from depression into self-destruction (which is usually where the lead singer sounds like he is). the lyrics are amazing and simple; you can actually feel the sadness in his voice as it moves between a moan and a whimper and it is just beautiful, especially when complimented by the quirky instrumental back-up. although i make this sound like the most depressing album you will ever buy, it is a good bit more upbeat than their other albums and is more accesible for the average listener. buy this album first and then check out the others; if you really pay attention to arab strap, you will be amazed every time you hear the album.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but try it first., March 20, 2001

By A Customer

I don't know if this albumn is for everyone, but I loved it. Some of the songs such as Deeper, Phone me tonight, and The First Big Weekend of the Summer, go down in my list of all time favorite tracks.

I would certainly recommend listening to this albumn on a good stereo - a lot of the lyrics sound muffled on bad headphones, making the heavy accents harder to understand. The lyrics are worth it though - Pessemistic, world-weary, but honest and very personal.

This albumn is more varied than some of their later stuff, and one or two tracks are just plain painful to listen to (whistling?) - You certainly can't call this albumn over-produced. This adds to the appeal, though, reflecting the lack of pretention in the music.

In my opinion, this is Arab Strap's best albumn. Buy it, love it, then buy all the ones that follow. You won't regret it.

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dark Side of Love, June 23, 2001

By	Damon Navas-Howard (Santa Rosa, CA USA) - See all my reviews

One night stands, girls that decieve, ale, clubs, cigarettes and ecstasy; welcome to the world of Arab Strap. A band the tells all(Well mostly the sad parts), not leaving out any little detail. The lead singer mumbles on the mic as if his woken up after a long night before and with a deadly hangover and the band plays on. With lyrics like "I lick her ..., as it tightens its grip." and "Talked with your ex and we agreed,thought of your sister helped us wank. ", it's not hard but to laugh at first but these guys aren't just trying to shock people's parents for a few bucks. Arab Strap live this lifestyle and put it on record, making the music seem more real. All the songs go in a singer-tells-a-story-rather-than-sing formula but the music is differnt. At the core of Arab Strap's music, is modern folk(Belle & Sebastian, etc...) with sprinkles of electronic keyboards, hip hop drums, and industrial thrashes. Arab Strap combine old with new, making a fresh sound. If you don't dig the lyrics, you can atleast just focus on the music. Stand out songs include ; "I Work In A Saloon", "The First Big Weekend"(Possibly the best Arab Strap song), "Blood", and "The Smell Of Outdoor Cooking." "The Week Never Ends Round Here" plays like an Irvine Welsh novel(Arab Strap should've done the whole soundtrack to "The Acid House") talking about youth who waste their days on ale, one night stands, and being lazy all day. If this is what you want, no one does it better than Arab Strap. They've wone me over.