BELLE & SEBASTIAN - THE BOY WITH THE ARAB STRAP

The Boy With The Arab Strap followed on from the wonderful If You're Feeling Sinister and a series of impeccable EPs, bringing the band to the point of commercial breakthrough and all round crossover appeal. To this day you still hear the title track an awful lot, largely thanks to it being used as the theme tune to TV show Teachers, but the truth is, it's hardly one of the better songs on the album. Although TBWTAS features a higher profile presence from band members like Stevie Jackson, Stuart David and Isobel Campbell, Stuart Murdoch's songs remain the creative fulcrum of the band. That said, the Jackson-fronted 'Seymour Stein' is a real highlight and matches anything else here, including the memorable opener, 'It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career'. Given what came before - and you might even say, since - this album perhaps isn't as incendiary as its initial reception suggested (despite being their third album, The Boy With The Arab Strap won them a BRIT Award for Best Newcomer), but this still feels like a necessary entry into any self-respecting pop fan's record collection.

Track listing

No.    Title    Length
1.    "It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career"    2:24
2.    "Sleep the Clock Around"    4:58
3.    "Is It Wicked Not to Care?"    3:22
4.    "Ease Your Feet in the Sea"    3:35
5.    "A Summer Wasting"    2:06
6.    "Seymour Stein"    4:42
7.    "A Space Boy Dream"    3:00
8.    "Dirty Dream Number Two"    4:14
9.    "The Boy with the Arab Strap"    5:14
10.    "Chickfactor"    3:30
11.    "Simple Things"    1:46
12.    "The Rollercoaster Ride"