Arab Strap

Arab Strap's first run stretched from 1995 to 2006, during which period the Scottish rock band stood at the center of Glasgow's burgeoning indie scene. Reforming nearly a decade later, the musicians became chart-toppers in their homeland, reaching Number 1 on the Scottish charts with their comeback album, 2021's As Days Get Dark.

Formed by Falkirk natives Malcolm Middleton and Aidan Moffat in 1995, the band's music centered around the often sordid lyrical recollections of its co-founders, sung in a Scottish brogue. They began as an electro-acoustic band with 1996's The Week Never Starts Round Here, then evolved their sound to include both dance and indie influences on albums like the Top 40 UK hit Philophobia and 2005's The Last Romance. After six albums, the group broke up in 2006, with Aidan Moffat continuing to release material as a solo artist. Arab Strap reformed a decade later and released "The First Big Weekend of 2016," a revised version of their debut hit, in 2016. They spent much of that year on tour, then scored a Number 12 hit in Scotland with their 2020 single "The Turning of Our Bones." One year later, they released As Days Get Dark, Arab Strap's first album of new material in sixteen years. The album also marked the band's first Number 1 release in Scotland. The commercial success continued with 2024's I'm Totally Fine with It Don't Give a Fuck Anymore, which debuted at number 2.