Here’s a Montauk Madness first round matchup that has me hoping my blog audience skews more toward my sensibility than popular consensus. I assume R&B and pop legend Michael Jackson would take down Scottish indie act Belle & Sebastian in a poll of any significant size, by way of name recognition if nothing else.
But as much as I love the King of Pop, especially in his Off the Wall and Thriller days, I can’t give him the nod over one of my very favorite bands.
The title track from Belle & Sebastian’s third studio album, 1998’s The Boy With the Arab Strap, is a quintessential B&S song. It’s delicate, quietly rollicking, precious but snarky, unmistakably the work of this wonderful, improbable band.
Lead singer/songwriter Stuart Murdoch took the “Arab Strap” reference in this song from a Scottish band of the same name. He didn’t realize it referred to a device used by men to maintain erections.
Best Songs of 2015 – #1
‘Play For Today’ – Belle & Sebastian
I had more Top 40 hits in this year’s top twenty countdown than I ever have before, so I guess I’ve earned the right to go full indie geek and give my #1 spot to an epic Belle & Sebastian song about battling depression.
What did you expect, ‘Hotline Bling?’
When R.E.M.’s 1998 album Up, their first without drummer Bill Berry, was met with mixed reviews, Michael Stipe said this in an interview: “If this record dropped out of the sky by a three-piece band that nobody had heard of, people would be in the street shouting at the top of their lungs, naked, about it.”
He was being overly defensive, but I could see his point. Established bands — especially great ones — are always measured against their own legacy, their finest moments.
Belle & Sebastian give good instrumentals. This cut from their Legal Man EP is a fine example.
It is more notable, however, for its title, which is both naughty and nonsensical. I have a pretty good guess what a “dick slap” is (and Urban Dictionary is there to support that guess in graphic fashion) but I’m not sure how Judy, or anybody, can be one.
Meet Me In Montauk 