By Fiona Shepherd

Published 11th Dec 2023, 09:37 BST

Arab Strap, Saint Luke’s, Glasgow ****

With Aidan Moffat’s lurgy-induced voice problems at bay, Arab Strap “quietly celebrated” the 25th anniversary of their second album Philophobia with a prescription drug-fuelled set. Philophobia means “fear of love"; for Moffat this is “a sad album about being a dick”. It also features an arresting opening line and various lyrically explicit reasons why his own kids were barred from the gig.

Moffat’s candid chronicling is part of the attraction. The droll narration of New Birds elicited snickers of recognition around an encounter with an ex, now with added years of grizzled experience. But Malcolm Middleton's burnished, almost sorrowful guitar playing told a story in its own right, the minor chord at the end of Packs of Three intimating that the situation was unresolved.

These were stripped back, at times hypnotic, arrangements, though Here We Go was fleshed out with backing beats and a psychedelic, almost Gothic guitar line with shades of The Cure. With no additional band members, Moffat was left to stroke a cymbal, play desolate melodica or add a martial tom to The Night Before the Funeral, the last hurrah before things got seriously downbeat. “Nearly at the end,” he assured the rapt fans.

Happier times lay ahead. Now in their fifties, Arab Strap make (sort of) dance music. Their cleansing encore included two tracks from most recent album As Days Get Dark (with another on the way in 2024).

The comparatively funky Turning of Our Bones merited the use of mirrorball lighting while Fable of the Urban Fox featured what can only be described as a Boney M-style string sample.

There is now even evidence that the band will occasionally give the audience what they want, ending on fan favourites Girls of Summer and their singalong classic The Shy Retirer, another explicitly observed vignette which puts the ass into assonance.

Music review: Arab Strap, Saint Luke’s, Glasgow