Arab Strap

Vocalist and drummer [[Aidan Moffat]] and multi-instrumentalist [[Malcolm Middleton]] grew up in [[Falkirk]], Scotland,<ref name="Larkin90">{{cite book |title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music |The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music]] |editor=Colin Larkin |editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |date=2000 |edition=First |isbn=0-7535-0427-8 |page=22}}</ref> and bonded over their mutual love for [[Drag City (record label)|Drag City]] recording artists such as [[Will Oldham]] (who at the time recorded under the name [[Palace Brothers]]) and [[Smog (band)|Smog]]. They began collaborating in 1995, and their debut album, ''[[The Week Never Starts Round Here]]'', was released the following year. At this point Gary Miller and David Gow joined the band and became the rhythm section, creating a more dynamic live experience when the band started touring.<ref name="Larkin90"/>

Vocalist and drummer [[Aidan Moffat]] and multi-instrumentalist [[Malcolm Middleton]] grew up in [[Falkirk]], Scotland,<ref name="Larkin90">{{cite book |title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music |The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music]] |editor=Colin Larkin |editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |date=2000 |edition=First |isbn=0-7535-0427-8 |page=22}}</ref> and bonded over their mutual love for [[Drag City (record label)|Drag City]] recording artists such as [[Will Oldham]] (who at the time recorded under the name [[Palace Brothers]]) and [[Smog (band)|Smog]]. They began collaborating in 1995, and their debut album, ''[[The Week Never Starts Round Here]]'', was released the following year. At this point Gary Miller and David Gow joined the band and became the rhythm section, creating a more dynamic live experience when the band started touring.<ref name="Larkin90"/>

Over the course of their first ten-year existence, Arab Strap worked with numerous musicians, including Jenny Reeve and Stacey Sievewright, as well as Adele Bethel, who went on to form [[Sons and Daughters (band)|Sons and Daughters]]. [[Stuart Murdoch (musician)|Stuart Murdoch]] of [[Belle & Sebastian]] featured on the album ''[[Philophobia (album)|Philophobia]]'', but the Belle & Sebastian album/song "[[The Boy with the Arab Strap]]" would later create something of a feud between Moffat and Murdoch.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Over the course of their first ten-year existence, Arab Strap worked with numerous musicians, including Jenny Reeve and Stacey Sievewright, as well as Adele Bethel, who went on to form [[Sons and Daughters (band)|Sons and Daughters]]. [[Stuart Murdoch (musician)|Stuart Murdoch]] of [[Belle and Sebastian]] featured on the album ''[[Philophobia (album)|Philophobia]]'', but the Belle and Sebastian album/song "[[The Boy with the Arab Strap]]" would later create something of a feud between Moffat and Murdoch.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Arab Strap's marked characteristics include sordid, personal, yet honest, lyrics – described by the ''[[NME]]'' as "fly on the duvet vignettes".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nme.com |title=Music News and Reviews, Concert Tickets, Videos, Pictures and Free MP3s |publisher=Nme.Com |access-date=2014-04-24}}</ref> Like fellow Scottish band [[The Proclaimers]], their lyrics are sung in their native [[Scots language|Scots tongue]].<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/books/archive/breakingupbritain.html |chapter-url=http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/books/archive/Breaking_up_Britain_Williamson.pdf |chapter=Language and culture in a rediscovered Scotland |title=Breaking up Britain: Four nations after a Union |editor=Mark Perryman |author=Kevin Williamson |author-link=Kevin Williamson (politician) |year=2009 |publisher=[[Lawrence and Wishart]] |page=61 |isbn=978-1-905007-96-7 |access-date=2009-09-05}}</ref> At first essentially an electro-acoustic band with a brooding, spare sound, later albums and gigs saw them develop a fuller sound that drew deeply on both indie and dance music.

Arab Strap's marked characteristics include sordid, personal, yet honest, lyrics – described by the ''[[NME]]'' as "fly on the duvet vignettes".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nme.com |title=Music News and Reviews, Concert Tickets, Videos, Pictures and Free MP3s |publisher=Nme.Com |access-date=2014-04-24}}</ref> Like fellow Scottish band [[The Proclaimers]], their lyrics are sung in their native [[Scots language|Scots tongue]].<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/books/archive/breakingupbritain.html |chapter-url=http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/books/archive/Breaking_up_Britain_Williamson.pdf |chapter=Language and culture in a rediscovered Scotland |title=Breaking up Britain: Four nations after a Union |editor=Mark Perryman |author=Kevin Williamson |author-link=Kevin Williamson (politician) |year=2009 |publisher=[[Lawrence and Wishart]] |page=61 |isbn=978-1-905007-96-7 |access-date=2009-09-05}}</ref> At first essentially an electro-acoustic band with a brooding, spare sound, later albums and gigs saw them develop a fuller sound that drew deeply on both indie and dance music.