BELLE & SEBASTIAN
The Boy With The Arab Strap (Matador)
Rating: 7 out of 7
By Craig Rosen

   If You’re Feeling Sinister, the 1997 American debut by Scottish act Belle & Sebastian, was simply stunning. With its mix of mostly acoustic instrumentation and low-key vocals, misery, misfortune, and melancholia hadn’t sounded quite so sweet since Morrissey was still with Marr.
   Anyone fearing that B&S would lighten up on its full-album follow-up need only listen to the first five seconds of The Boy With The Arab Strap for reassurance. "He had a stroke at the age of 24," Stuart Murdoch croons on the album-opening "It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career."
   As such, Arab Strap isn’t a dramatic departure from Sinister, but why mess with near perfection? From the pleasant loafing of "Sleep The Clock Around" and the lovely "Seymour Stein"--named for the record executive who unsuccessfully courted the band--to the trippy "Spaceboy Dream," you’d be a fool not to strap this on. It could be the album of the year.