Last Romance, The

Arab Strap- the last romance (transdreamer). matthewstarkrubin!
FCC 1, 5, 6, 7

Sad, desperate and depressed alterna/indie. The press kit recommends for fans of bright eyes and franz ferdinand, but its actually MUCH darker than either of those bands’ recent fare, plus it’s neither dance-punk nor folk: the only similarity I see is the obsession in many of the songs with sex. If anything, this sounds very similar to Cursive and other bands of the more rockin side of Saddle Creek. As 90s alt brit rock as it is contempo casual indie. And although its not the most adventurous album since cristobal columbus, it’s quite convincing in its utter moroseness. As such, the less rockin, more confessional numbers shine above the rest; the singing in those songs is more believable and prominent in the mix, plus the lyrics in the quieter ones seem more literary and descriptive, whereas some of the other songs are not shy of ye olde platitutde. I generally like the rear end of the album better than the front. All in all, a nice pick for some VERY sad music about sex. My picks: 3!!, 5, 9/10, 11

1- FCC FUCK! dirty sex-obsessed alt-rock downtrodden waltz. Corny distorto guitar solo at end.
2- Driving standard four-chord-picked-out wrist-slitter. Great Scottish accent really shines on this one, though, and the chorus is quite catchy. Also great back-and-forth dialogue with a pretty lady vocalist.
3- Sweet, slow accordion, with awesome spoken Scottish drawl about COMPLETE depression on top of the same lyrics being sung. Gets noisy and experimental at end of song. Best track on album by far.
4- Drums lead into atmospherically dark guitar picking. Sounds like cursive in Glasgow. Coda has some pretty bombastic big guitar chords
5- FCC FUCK! Acoustic finger-picker with conversational singing.
6- FCC FUCK! A nice, sad waltz. Pretty and understated, with nice girl harmonies.
7- FCC FUCK! Back to more standard rok on this one, with a very poppy chorus, almost sounds like the killers!
8- Mid-tempo drum beat front and center with prominent singing trading off with standard minor key piano lead line. Lyrics about dating (or having dated?) a girl who he thinks is a slut.
9- Very nice and pretty acoustic folky track. Just vox and guitar. His dirty diction and sexually narrative lyrics are a nice juxtaposition with the sweet harmless feel of finger picking. LOVE IT. Thematically linked to track 9- play juntos!
10- Happier brit-pop feeling instrumental rocker to start- a reprise of the melody from track 9 with some different vox. PLAY WITH 9! Ends with silence, tons of it, WATCH OUT
11- Drum machines and a weird casio/country vibe. Cool!
12- Dark minor-key acoustapickin with some reverby lead guitar drones. Vocal melody sounds like Courtney love.