Art Brut: Rediscovering Rock and Roll

Rock stars and techno DJs often like to tackle the postmodern theme of rock and roll being dead. Maybe that isn't the intention of Art Brut's Bang Bang Rock and Roll, it certainly comes off as a deconstruction of the modern rock star.

On mission statement opener "Formed a Band," singer Eddie Argos states, "This is my real singing voice/It's not irony/It's not rock and roll," and Art Brut is pretty hard to place - even though they sound like your everyday awesome British garage rock. Argos had a hard time taking things seriously - he considers a move to LA, stops reading NME, confesses to not understanding modern art or the Velvet Underground, and pines for his high school girlfriend Emily Kane ("I wished I'd convinced you/you made a mistake/If memory serves/we're still on a break").

Maybe Argos is totally serious - he sounds completely genuine, which is what makes their debut so utterly brilliant. It's quite British, so I imagine an American record label will have to create a more Americanized version, which will probably not be as exciting unless it is fronted by Steve Carrell.

Serious or not, Art Brut craft singles better than just about any other rock band. Fans in the U.S. will have a chance to experience the band in very intimate settings when they hit the states in the middle of this month ...

March 2006
15 - Austin, TX - The Parish (SXSW)
16 - Austin, TX - To Be Announced (SXSW)
17 - Austin, TX - Emo's Annex (SXSW)
19 - West Hollywood, CA - The Troubadour
20 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
21 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
23 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
24 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
25 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
28 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
30 - Chicago, IL - Metro
31 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom

April 2006
1 - Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern
2 - Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
3 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Downstairs
4, 5 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
7 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
8 - Haverford, PA - Haverford College
9 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
10 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
11 - Brooklyn, NY - TBA

::4 Related Links::
Live Art Brut mp3s here, and here, as well as acoustic ones here. (courtesy of rbally).