An occasional feature between now and mid-December, hopefully giving you time to put some records on your list to Santa. It’s not a rundown by any stretch of the imagination, but simply a chance for me to mention a few albums that have brought me immense pleasure thanks to them being released in 2024.
I’m Totally Fine With It, Don’t Give A Fuck Anymore – Arab Strap
Those of you who have long followed the blog won’t be surprised to find this one appearing as a recommendation.
Arab Strap very rarely disappoint those of us who are fans. They have been making music for the best part of 3o years, with the first six studio albums appearing between 1996 and 2005, with the next two appearing in 2021 and 2024 after Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton had taken the decision to tour and record again, all the while maintaining their solo careers and other spin-off collaborations.
Those who pay no close attention simply pigeon-hole them as one-dimensional miserabilists who curse and swear a lot on their songs. The miserabilist bit isn’t an unreasonable point to make, but it doesn’t take into account just how much shift there has been over the years in what makes them so angst-ridden. But there is no way that Arab Strap can ever be dismissed as one-dimensional, something I intend to demonstrate with the songs selected today.
The artwork for I’m Totally Fine With It, Don’t Give A Fuck Anymore kind of gives the game away that this is an album full of frustration and resignation with the modern world. I’ll borrow some words from Stewart Berman‘s review for Pitchfork to try and best sum it all up.
In a pre-smartphone era, Moffat and Middleton were the novelistic narrators of twentysomething Scottish life and all the awkward conversations that transpire after the pubs clear out for the night. Now, with their second post-comeback effort, they stand among indie rock’s most astute observers of human behavior in the digital age. Moffat probably could have written the lyrics to “Sociometer Blues” back in 1998, as a window into a disintegrating dysfunctional relationship: “You take all my time, you take all my strength, you steal my love, you are the worst friend I ever had.” But the sense of exasperation and desperation is amplified upon realizing the song’s object of desire is his mobile device.
One of the things I’ve always loved about Arab Strap is the way they introduce each new album, as it never really is quite what you expect based on what has come before. They pull off another great trick this time, with one of the hardest-edged tunes they’ve ever recorded, betraying somewhat that Malcolm has long had a lifelong love of rock music while Aidan spits out a lyric which warns of social media and all the ills that come with any sort of addiction.
mp3: Arab Strap – Allatonceness
You’ll be pleased to hear they are still very capable of delivering moments of levity, as can be seen from the promo for the second and last single lifted from the album. It was filmed in Glasgow, taking in a few well known locations, and is seemingly the first time Mr Middleton has been part of an Arab Strap video in 25 years. He more than makes up for it:-
The video does disguise that this was probably the most personal song on the record, with Aidan explaining ” It’s about a period when I wasn’t doing very well, both mentally and physically. I was walking with a cane and in pain most of the time, and drowning my sorrows too, trapped at home and watching the phases of the moon through a window.”
I’ve long said that Moffat is the modern-era bard of Scotland, a lyrical genius whose work is so often achingly poetic.
Love will always be stronger than death.
Arab Strap very rarely never disappoint those of us who are fans.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Couldn’t agree more – another great Strap album!