"Formed a Band" was such a brilliant first single, and summed up Art Brut's aesthetic so perfectly, that there almost seemed to be no need for more songs from them. Driven by a jagged, ragged guitar riff, it sounded like it was thrown together in ten minutes tops, and had lots of great, quotable lyrics ("I wanna be the boy -- the man -- who writes the song/That makes Israel and Palestine get along"), which were held together and topped off by Alfred Molina look-alike Eddie Argos' speak-singing -- which he informed his listeners wasn't irony, and wasn't ock & roll. Actually, it's both, and there's a lot more of both on Bang Bang Rock & Roll, an album whose title kills and celebrates ock & roll at the same time. "Formed a Band," which appears here in a slightly more polished version than the original Rough Trade single, is still Art Brut's calling card, but the album has plenty of nearly-as-great songs to choose from. Chief among them is "Emily Kane," a plea Argos wrote to find his lost teenage sweetheart. He doesn't just pine for her, though, he wants "school kids on buses singing [her] name." Truly brilliant in its sweet simplicity -- especially on the breakdown, where he lists, to the second, exactly how long it's been since he's seen Emily -- it's an incredibly vivid distillation of how large your first love looms in your memory. On the album's title track, Art Brut return to "Formed a Band"-style, tongue-in-cheek meta-punk: while Argos snarls, "I can't stand the sound of the Velvet Underground!" the backing vocals chime in "White light! White heat!" and a John Cale-like violin screeches in the background. While all this irony could be suffocating, there's a pure, unadulterated joy underneath most of Art Brut's best songs that prevents their witty stance from becoming too clever-clever; the way Argos roars, "I've seen her naked twice!" about his new girlfriend on "Good Weekend" feels entirely genuine. Indeed, a lot of Art Brut's appeal lies in Argos' way with storytelling, whether he's singing about impotence ("Rusted Guns of Milan"), drinking Hennessey with Morrissey ("Moving to L.A."), or indulging his fascinations with Top of the Pops or Italy ("18,000 Lira"). Though it runs out of steam slightly (at least in comparison to the pop art brilliance of the band's best songs) on its second half, Bang Bang Rock & Roll is a terrific debut, and Art Brut are smart, catchy, and fun -- everything you could want in a band, even if they do sound like they formed ten minutes ago.
Sunday night...most would be sitting in their living rooms, watching Ty Pennington and crying. But not me, or my fellow MOG-ettes, "Librarianguish":http://mog.com/Librarianguish and "Jaye":http://mog.com/jaye and "imsochilly":http://mog.com/imsochilly...we went to see Art Brut and The Hold Steady. Now, we all know Sunday night shows can be rough and this was no exception. I hope that both AB...
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So I was singing Emily Kane in my head this morning while brushing my teeth and I thought, Man, it must be cool to be THE Emily Kane. Even further, just to be named Emily Kane in general. No song has ever had William Harle, or any variation of that, from what I know. But I know that cannot be the case for everyone's name. Some of you are cool or lucky enough to be blessed with music inclusion.S...
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My workplace has started playing Christmas music nonstop. And bad music, that's the thing. I mean, I have some Christmas music in my collection, but we're talking Conor Oberst singing "Blue Christmas," selections from Death Cab, Ron Sexsmith, the Eels, Guster's adorable "Donde Esta Santa Claus?", and my all-time favorite - "Christmas Wrapping" by the Waitresses. I am not a scrooge. I know h...
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"Popular culture no longer applies to me"And to quote another song, "and I feel fine."Whew! Good riddance!
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When asked what lead singer, Eddie Argos loves about the U.S. he answered: "Sparks beer". "I (once) had about 11, and I was running on the streets, howling like a wolf, completely mad. You can't get that in England, and it's probaby for the best."I've never had any but this link is a good review:http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/supplements/liquid_04/documents/04203185.aspI have to dig arou...
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Last night I made a special trip to the wonderful town of Austin for the We Are Scientists/Art Brut show. The Spinto Band opened. I had to get my hands on the Art Brut/WAS split record. Having previously seen WAS before I went mainly for Art Brut and they did not disappoint. In fact I might go as far as saying they were freaking amazing. I really had no idea what to expect from them, all I...
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Sunday night...most would be sitting in their living rooms, watching Ty Pennington and crying. But not me, or my fellow MOG-ettes, "Librarianguish":http://mog.com/Librarianguish and "Jaye":http://mog.com/jaye and "imsochilly":http://mog.com/imsochilly...we went to see Art Brut and The Hold Steady. Now, we all know Sunday night shows can be rough and this was no exception. I hope that both AB...
More >
"Popular culture no longer applies to me"And to quote another song, "and I feel fine."Whew! Good riddance!
More >
The stars aligned perfectly. A few things had to fall into place in order for things to work out as planned. And they did!The night started out at Zooma, where a martini was planned (and had...). Zooma was the bar on Federal Hill where Jessica and I started our first date after getting back together last September. My brain was going absolutely bonkers. I couldn't think straight, trying to cont...
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Oh, dear, I seem to have been silent here for, um, almost a month. Sorry about that. Did you miss me? Can we just take all the usual excuses - busy at work, no time to listen to much new music, _really frickin' lazy_ - as read?But O, my moggly Moglings, I have been to the promised land and found many treasures. Of course, I always find out after I make these discoveries that the Kewl Kidz w...
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Last night I made a special trip to the wonderful town of Austin for the We Are Scientists/Art Brut show. The Spinto Band opened. I had to get my hands on the Art Brut/WAS split record. Having previously seen WAS before I went mainly for Art Brut and they did not disappoint. In fact I might go as far as saying they were freaking amazing. I really had no idea what to expect from them, all I...
More >
My workplace has started playing Christmas music nonstop. And bad music, that's the thing. I mean, I have some Christmas music in my collection, but we're talking Conor Oberst singing "Blue Christmas," selections from Death Cab, Ron Sexsmith, the Eels, Guster's adorable "Donde Esta Santa Claus?", and my all-time favorite - "Christmas Wrapping" by the Waitresses. I am not a scrooge. I know h...
More >
When asked what lead singer, Eddie Argos loves about the U.S. he answered: "Sparks beer". "I (once) had about 11, and I was running on the streets, howling like a wolf, completely mad. You can't get that in England, and it's probaby for the best."I've never had any but this link is a good review:http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/supplements/liquid_04/documents/04203185.aspI have to dig arou...
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Sure enough, two days after Valentine's Day, I'm changing my tune from "No Pussy Blues" to the following:
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So I was singing Emily Kane in my head this morning while brushing my teeth and I thought, Man, it must be cool to be THE Emily Kane. Even further, just to be named Emily Kane in general. No song has ever had William Harle, or any variation of that, from what I know. But I know that cannot be the case for everyone's name. Some of you are cool or lucky enough to be blessed with music inclusion.S...
More >
This was an item written by my former roomate.Item 269. Strip naked to the waist and ride your Harley-Davidson down Lake Shore Drive.
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Formed a Band |
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| 2 My Little Brother |
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| 3 Emily Kane |
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| 4 Rusted Guns of Milan |
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| 5 Modern Art |
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| 6 Good Weekend |
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| 7 Bang Bang Rock & Roll |
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| 8 Fight! |
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| 9 Moving to L.A. |
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| 10 Bad Weekend |
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| 11 Stand Down |
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| 12 18,000 Lira |
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Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "Bang Bang Rock & Roll")
