The world of rock music may be constantly changing with bands taking styles and "combining" them accordingly etc......however "comedy rock" was never really mastered, unless you count Spinal Tap! Tenacious D certainly seem to be the front-runners, however may I throw another band into the equation - Art Brut
Released earlier this year, "Bang Bang Rock & Roll" is the band's debut album and vocalist Eddie Argos certainly seems to have, on first impressions, startling similarities to Mike Skinner of The Streets's "talking" style of vocals, combined with raw, rash rock and roll. Is he really talking? Or as I'm sure the band would agree; singing in a style that is so ground-breaking that we simpletons cannot understand it.
Opening track "Formed a Band" does actually explain his vocal style to some extent - "this is my singing voice, it's not irony and it's not rock and roll", but anyway, moving onto more pressing matters - the song itself is a perfect example of what Art Brut are attempting to achieve - music domination through singing about things that they know - they formed a band, because it's cool, simple as that.
Second track "My Little Brother" goes on, literally, about Argos' little brother, who just seems to have discovered rock and roll, regardless of the fact he's twenty two....
Yes, slightly obscure subject matter does help with the humour side of things, but it's important to remember that the music itself is not bog-standard, basic, factory line music - there are plenty of melodies and complex enough structures to show that they have actually thought about some of this, rather than just written three chords and a drum beat when drunk, like when many of the lyrics must have been written, or so it seems!!
Other songs on the album of high noteability include "Emily Kane" - a song about a former girlfriend, who will now be immortalised through three minutes of singing about how Argos is "still in love with Emily Kane".
"Rusted Guns of Milan" is personally one of the funniest tracks - with the fine-tasting humour of "I know I can, I know I can, I'm fine when I'm with my own hand" - and yes, it is based on the subject matter your thinking of!
"Modern Art" explains how it just makes the band want to "rock out" - it's a further impression of the band's raw style of good-time rock music. Personally, Art Brut are "modern art", and yes, it makes me want to "rock out"....trust me, it'll make you want to do the same once you turn the volume up.
Other songs on the album include "Moving to L.A" and "Fight!" - yes, these guys don't bother with complicated song titles, so I need not explain too much about what those two songs are about, but let me just give you a line from "Fight!" - "Come on, come on, lets have a fight" - as if from the pen of Shakespeare himself!
Another stand-out is "Bad Weekend", which is apparently based literally on why the band formed - to appear on Top of the Pops, and quite simple, nothing else! Hey, it's the reason why all bands form...honestly!
Also note, that as a live act, they're just as enthusiastic as on CD - exploding on stage like hyper-active jack-in-the-boxes, with Eddie Argos proclaiming at the start of every song; "Let's Go Art Brut!" - fun time rock and roll!
Of course, it's certainly not going to be appreciated by some people, particularly traditionalists, which is fair enough as it is somewhat obscure...but hey, if you fancy a laugh with your music, give them a go, you never know, it could and quite probably, will surprise you.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Many bands have promised to bring intelligence back into rocknroll, but few offer it quite ... more
so readily as on the debut album by Art Brut even if its a little too frequently brains of the somewhat smart-arsed variety. This is down to Art Brut band-leade...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Many bands have promised to bring intelligence back into rocknroll, but few offer it quite ... more
so readily as on the debut album by Art Brut even if its a little too frequently brains of the somewhat smart-arsed variety. This is down to Art Brut band-leade...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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Nov 17th, 2005
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