Art Brut: Over The Top Tongue In Cheek

I was disoriented as soon as I walked into Richards, and saw opening act Gil Mantera's Party Dream on stage. Two rather unsexy blokes carousing, wearing nothing but cowboy boots and bright skimpy undies. And one guy also wore leather slacks which were already down around his knees when I slipped in. I really didn't know what to make of these fellows (who the
Village Voice deemed SXSW's most entertaining act), banging out their admittedly hip-shaking brand of electro rock, replete with preprogrammed beats, synth, and guitar. The fraternal tag team aren't about to rewrite music history, but who cares? Their schtick is unlike anything I've ever seen in this city, and as soon as they finished their last song I knew I had witnessed genius when the cheering audience wasn't enough to drown out the people yelling, "Boo! You guys suck!" Booing? That's so un-Canadian!

Art Brut took the stage banging out the opening riff of Enter Sandman, which seamlessly moulded into their oh so ironically epic hit We Formed a Band. I immediately tuned into the fact that these London boys (and girl) weren't afraid of taking the piss out of themselves. Hell, that's their gimmick. They're all about the rock and roll posturing. You know, the arm, index finger, and steely gaze pointed towards the rafters. At one point I said to myself, "These guys kinda suck ass, but who cares, it's still pretty entertaining." But by the end of the show, I had had a generous shift in perspective. Art Brut rocked the house. At their best moments they were everything that a quintessential rock band should be. They sailed on an attitude that clearly proved that talent is at best, a subjective term. They banged out loud, gritty and comical track after loud, gritty and comical track. The singer jumped around in the audience. The guitarist climbed on top of the speaker tower. They made my forehead wrinkle up, wondering what the difference is between pretending to be a rock star and being a rock star.

All this was complicated by the fact that frontman Eddie Argos, is a bit of a nerd. His singing is more like of a spoken word rant. Think Blur's Parklife, but more manic and yell-y. The format worked well for a live gig, 'cause Argos had plenty of opportunity to adlib to the here and now. Quite a few of the songs took an unexpected left hand turn, lyrically. I found it particularly hilarious to hear Argos yelling "Art Brut: Top of the Pops!" in a self-promotion reminiscent of disappointing rap songs. Except that when Art Brut did it, it just made me crack up. I admit it: I couldn't help myself from singing along. "Art Brut: Top of the Pops! Art Brut: Top of the Pops!" Geez, that was me.

I have no idea where these guys can go from here. The music snobs at Pitchfork Reviews already listed Art Brut's Bang Bang Rock & Roll in their top 3 albums from 2005, and Rolling Stone dubbed them Best Unsigned Band. Can Art Brut use the same schtick to propell themselves into the future? All I can say is this: I've got my fingers crossed.

Eddie Argos image courtesy of Simonwebbon.com