Brooding, depressive, and morose, Arab Strap's music is surprisingly pretty despite itself: a dime-store drum machine thumps along in the most laconic way, a thick Scottish brogue intones drunkenly and lazily above it, and... more » a smattering of keyboard sounds and purposeful guitar chordings fall in atop that. The songs are about all the nasty women who've hurt the two young men's tortured young hearts, and it gets to be a bit much after a full hour. There are glimpses of the reasons why these two Arab Strap boys get into so much trouble, through their plainspoken, mumbled tales of drunkenness and copulation, but too often, Philophobia is the musical equivalent of an unbearable hangover suffered after a lost weekend spent behaving very badly. --Mike McGonigal« less
Brooding, depressive, and morose, Arab Strap's music is surprisingly pretty despite itself: a dime-store drum machine thumps along in the most laconic way, a thick Scottish brogue intones drunkenly and lazily above it, and a smattering of keyboard sounds and purposeful guitar chordings fall in atop that. The songs are about all the nasty women who've hurt the two young men's tortured young hearts, and it gets to be a bit much after a full hour. There are glimpses of the reasons why these two Arab Strap boys get into so much trouble, through their plainspoken, mumbled tales of drunkenness and copulation, but too often, Philophobia is the musical equivalent of an unbearable hangover suffered after a lost weekend spent behaving very badly. --Mike McGonigal
MaddKhameleon | Singapore: The City of Sin | 08/16/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Arab Strap, what the heck is that? It is something that enhances your erection, if you are a man, of course! Well, `Philophobia' means the fear of falling in love, and the album is so full of perversion that I have to go to the hospital after I inhaled too many griddle fumes. Hey, just listen to the album alright? One word to describe the album `SICK', compare to Arab Strap, Marilyn Manson the poseur is just as cute as Britney Spears. (I love both Britney and Marilyn, aren't they cute?) Furthermore, the experience you get after listening to this album is `Too much repetition, too monotonous, the guy is too sad for his own good', it is something like the hangover effect you get after a night of Bacchanalian orgy, you feel guilty, you feel impotent.The impotence here is much more intense than the impotence you feel after listening to Radiohead music. The first line of the first song on the album goes something like this `This was the biggest c**k you've ever seen, but you have no idea where the c**k has been', yes, the theme of the album is sex, bad sex, impotence, mistreating your lover and all that sordid while morbid stuff. It's an album that is a downright shameless confession, he is not even ashamed of his impotence. Adrian Moffat(that surname is adorable,isn't it?It reminds me of...) is being true, that is the BEAUTY. You either love the album or hate it. Either way, Adrian doesn't care, he probably has too much to worry about to care about your comment. Just in case you dunno,he IS the boy Belle & Sebastian mocked on `The Boy With the Arab Strap', mordant bunch. Glad that at least there are still people who are honest and truthful. To me, it is a 5 out of 5, to you, it might be the biggest load of trash you have ever bought/heard..."
Take away the belt and shoelaces
Brad Lewis | Pittsburgh, PA United States | 10/21/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is the most dark, depressing, morbid music I've ever heard. God it's beautiful. My only problem is the length, after an hour I feel like throwing myself out of a window. In a good way though. This is not music for dancers, it is for those of us who understand true beauty reveals itself to us while drunk and alone at 3am. Their best album, with no doubt in my mind."
"Philophobia" is a masterpiece
06/29/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album, "Philophobia" is a classic. Every song has a different melody, but each song carries a different tale of love lost, wild nights, etc.. I am not really familiar with Arab Strap's other work, but I just love how they choose to speak instead of sing, because while listening to this album it feels like you are hearing someone confess, and that is different. The music is beautiful- a low-fi drum machine, an occasional piano, a gentle-strumming guitar- it is just a classic for anyone who enjoys sad, moody music, Morrissey, and even Belle and Sebastian- even though after listening to this, their songs sound like children's songs."
Depressing and blunt
chris wildeman | carlisle, pa | 08/12/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"a very good album, especially if you liked either of their two other full-lengths. listening to arab strap is not fun, although it is probably good for you. the lyrics are harsh, which is refreshing, and they are also very direct, refusing to hedge around anything (also refreshing). the music isn't as interesting as the first album, but they seem to do a better job with the less varied texture that they go for. this is a bit slower on the average than the first album, although there are times where the pace does liven up to a crawl. if you get throught the first few lines of the album (which traumatized me because i had the cd player turned all the way up) then you will be fine. also, the lyrics are written on the inside on the album in story form, so if you like hearing about someone constantly going around in circles, then this album will also provide a nice example of that."
Perfect pain
chris wildeman | 12/23/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"if have had problems with the opposite sex, buy this album. it is by far the arab strap's best. philophobia is 13 songs of misery, loneliness, and confusion. aidan moffat speaks bluntly about the pain and ugliness of relationships. if thats what you are in the mood to hear, you will find very few albums that will speak that as strongly. personally i love this album, because i, as well as most, know what its like to get screwed in a relationship. if you want something to identify with in a time of pain and bitterness, this is something you need to own."