Album Review: The Last Romance by Arab Strap

The presence of what sounds like energy, streaked across most of The Last Romance, has often been mistaken for happiness, or at least a resigned sense of contentment. A fast tempo and comprehensible lyrics don't necessarily indicate that a band is being upbeat, but in the case of Arab Strap-- a band that has been dealing in bitterness, jealousy, regret, drunkenness, sloppy sex, and all combinations thereof throughout its entire career -- any glint, no matter how slight or fleeting, is bound to be blown out of proportion. When Aidan Moffat sings, "And when I wake up stiff, please just feel free to use me/Then go to work and let me wonder what it was that made you choose me" (aww, what a sweetheart), he might as well be holding a basket of puppies in a field of fragrant flowers.

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Time weighs heavily on the Arab Strap, the way it tends to on people who have passed 30 and think that that makes them old (you silly young things!). Having a band that’s been around a decade not only makes them more reflective, but more extravagant; they’ve pulled out the stops and put real drums on nearly every track, added strings and horns to several others, and given everything the sort of sonic boost that only well-heeled post-production can buy. Malcolm Middleton’s electric and bass guitars have never sounded so big, and they’re better that way.

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