It was issued in the United States in early 1997; the choice to do this delayed the follow-up, with the band instead opting to release a trio of EPs – Dog on Wheels, Lazy Line Painter Jane and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light (all 1997).

[4] In a rave review for Uncut, Robert McTaggart declared that The Boy with the Arab Strap "marks Belle and Sebastian's arrival as a fully-fleshed group", finding that they "reveal a refreshing diversity" with the album's "increasingly rich and breathtaking arrangements".

[16] Ben Ratliff of Rolling Stone welcomed "the greater richness and sophistication" of the music and said that while the band's previous records were "assiduously cloistered and rickety, best heard at private moments on headphones, this album's got brilliant Spector-sound sunsets.

"[15] John Mulvey commented in NME that Belle and Sebastian "leaves almost all their contemporaries for dead" with a record that "locates an emotional chord largely neglected by the British mainstream since the demise of the Smiths, but is presented with an air of aloofness and/or shyness more suitable to a tiny side project of the Pastels.

"[10] The Village Voice's Robert Christgau observed that as a songwriter, Murdoch "pins his themes down one scenario at a time" in structured songs rather than "music that wanders hill and dale", achieving a sound that "comes out beautiful and fragile.

"[17] Retrospectively, AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that The Boy with the Arab Strap, rather than exploring "new ground", "essentially consolidates the group's talents" and "offers another round of timeless, endlessly fascinating folk-pop treasures", showcasing Murdoch's "vicious wit" and "effortless gift for elegant melancholia".