Bottom of the Hill
April 22 & 23, 2001
Review by Squid
Everyone knows that a Scotsman’s day is equal parts rage and delight. We outsiders usually find it hard to understand the reasoning behind this most bi-polar of localized social behaviors. After all, Scotland seems like a perfectly nice place, what with all the plaid and the castles and the yummy entrail-stuffed sausages. So why did Arab Strap lead singer Aidan Moffet begin his performance by climbing the stage and announcing, "Sorry Scotland’s so shite." ? We asked our dear friend and Scottish resident Graham Mitchell for further insight...
PIF: Why do all Scottish people introduce themselves by explaining that their country is shite?
GM: Because it is. The only people you know from the Bo'ness/Grangemouth/Falkirk mini-metropolis are Yours Truly, two thirds of The Cocteaus, and now Arab Strap. Not a happy song between us (well, apart from that song I wrote to celebrate the fact that Deacon Blue were splitting. How was I to know they'd reform?) No, we people brought up in Central Scotland like our music to be drenched in the acrid stench of mortality and no mistake, guvnor. On the plus side, the Ministry of Agriculture are actually sending out Arab Strap's 'Philophobia' CD to the farmers who have lost their livelihoods and are sitting on farms surrounded by the rotting carcasses of their flocks. The idea is that these farmers,gripped in a bottomless pit of despair, can listen to the CDs and think, "Well, it could be worse I suppose. I could be Aidan Moffet" He must be the only man who takes Ecstasy and writes songs about the comedown...
Indeed, the songs of the ‘Strap could be classified as downers. They are quiet and soft and many times spoken. Underneath the bitterness of lyrics, however, you get the feeling that Moffat’s not so much a cynic as a burnt romantic. You can tell it’s not that he doesn’t want to spend the night with his ex, he’s just scared of effing the whole thing up and would rather remember his desire for her as a hypothetically good thing. This is all pretty easily deduced even from just listening to the albums, and sure, we were definitely treated to some trademark sexy Scottish whispering and mumbling over ambient guitar and barely-there drums. What we weren’t counting on was Arab Strap’s ability to build into really loud and noisy expositions on their material. (Even more so on the second night than the first.) Daz was extremely pleased overall, the one exception being an overwhelming desire to hear her favorite, the Simpsons-mentioning adolescent ramble, "The First Big Weekend".
And sssspeaking of men who say a great deal very quietly, Monday night was the best show we’ve yet to see from those illustrious local dudes, Jim Yoshii Pile-Up. We’re not sure, it could’ve been the sound system. Or maybe an attentive crowd who were fans of both JYPU and Arab Strap alike. Whatever the reason, they really capitalized on the beautiful, sometimes-ambling, sometimes-crashing guitar meditations that we’ve come to expect from these boys. Matter of fact, is it going out on a limb to say that ‘Harmless Hobby or Bicycle Crash’ is a little Arab Strap-esque? Come on, just a little? JYPU are yet another local band that we’ll be proud to say "we saw back when".
Arab Strap
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Jim Yoshii Pile-Up
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©2001 playinginfog.com