Arab StrapBest Arab Strap Albums Ranked

Ten Years of Tears

pitchfork

8.2

“Career-capping compilation from the now-defunct Scottish duo is a pleasingly sloppy amalgamation of singles, B-sides, and unreleased tracks that convincingly demonstrates the enduring power of Arab Strap's bleak vision.”

As Days Get Dark

pitchfork

8.0

“On their first album in 16 years, the Scottish duo situates themselves in the current moment, teasing out new modes of songwriting while remaining as wry, dark, and self-lacerating as ever.”

As Days Get Dark

nme

8.0

“Indie kings Aidan Moffat and Malcom Middleton’s first album as Arab Strap in 16 years is also the best of their career. This is a dingy, debauched and tragi-comic universe – and all conjured with extraordinary depth in less than 50 minutes. Just about every track on ‘As Days Get Dark’ is unflinching in its depictions of life’s most sordid nooks and crannies. ‘The Turning Of Our Bones’ is a grizzl”

The Last Romance

pitchfork

8.0

“On their sixth album, the Scottish duo's self-deprecating gloom here begins to lift, allowing rays of romantic comfort and satisfaction to flicker in the distance.”

As Days Get Dark

loudandquiet

7.0

“According to Aidan Moffat, As Days Get Dark is about “resurrection and shagging”, “hopelessness and darkness”. As if that wasn’t what every Arab Strap album was about. Nobody does horny, hungover, misanthropic filth quite like Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. This is their first album since 2005’s The Last Romance, but their aesthetic is so singular that it feels like they’ve just picked up directly”

The Red Thread

pitchfork

6.9

“Perhaps rather than *The Red Thread*, the brothers MacSomber should have called their new album *The Red Threadbare*. The perma-posture of self-loathing has-- to no one's surprise, really-- almost totally burned itself out; consequently the group's dependably rich musical arrangements have to work harder than ever now to justify the repetitious circus of misery and sexual obsession that's characte”