Arab Strap / Last Romance, The
Album: Last Romance, The   Collection:General
Artist:Arab Strap   Added:Apr 2006
Label:Transdreamer Records  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2006-04-09 Pull Date: 2006-06-11
Week Ending: Jun 11 Jun 4 May 28 May 21 May 14 May 7 Apr 30 Apr 23
Airplays: 3 2 1 1 1 2 3 6

Recent Airplay
1. Nov 18, 2022: The Great British Breakfast
Don't Ask Me To Dance
4. Jun 07, 2006: I once was canadian
Stink
2. Sep 29, 2006: knifefishahppyhour
Fine Tuning
5. Jun 07, 2006: knifefishhappyhour
Chat In Amsterdam, Winter 2003
3. Jun 15, 2006: music->happy
[If There's] No Hope For Us
6. Jun 05, 2006: Happy Hour
Don't Ask Me To Dance

Album Review
Matthew Rubin
Reviewed 2006-04-12
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.

Track Listing
1. Stink   7. Speed-Date
2. [If There's] No Hope For Us   8. Dream Sequence
3. Chat In Amsterdam, Winter 2003   9. Fine Tuning
4. Don't Ask Me To Dance   10. There Is No Ending
5. Confessions Of A Big Brother   11. El Paso Song
6. Come Round And Love Me   12. Go Back To The Sea