Review

Bristling with smarts and passive aggression, call it twee at your own risk
After If You're Feeling Sinister made Belle & Sebastian a favorite of indie rockers who wouldn't be caught dead without a book, anywhere or anytime, The Boy with the Arab Strap upped the band's pop ante (at least a little bit). Less precious and crisper than its predecessor, the album suggests a real working band more than an occasional gathering of shy friends. "It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career" starts in classic Belle & Sebastian fashion: over a meek, delicate pastiche of folk guitars and piano, Stuart Murdoch spins a tale about an uneasy artist selling sham paintings while putting in hours at the Safeway. "Sleep the Clock Around" might be the most instantly delicious of Belle & Sebastian's many instantly delicious songs; it's a dreamy meld of Nick Drake wispiness and Stereolab chug, shaded with electric piano and horns. As usual, Stuart Murdoch's highlights ("Summer Wasting," the quasi-Motown biggie "Dirty Dream Number Two," the title track) are best, but his bandmates offer up worthy lyrics and vocals in "Is It Wicked Not to Care?" and "Seymour Stein." (Less so in the almost impossibly twee "Chickfactor.") Other Belle & Sebastian albums are dotted with songs at least as good, but this is their most consistent and winning record.