Reviews
Art Brut
Bang Bang Rock & Roll
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Add to del.ico.us.Review Date: 2005-09-15
Art Brut is the kinda band that plays music your already fairly familiar with the sound of. I would compare him to bands like The Futureheads, Bloc Party and maybe even Maximo Park. The sound is something that you've heard is the point I was trying to elude to, it isn't without some charm but I wonder if maybe I'm sick of this stuff. All I know is that its getting to the point where I'm less and less interested with the new post-punk sensation from the UK that appears every other week. I don't know how many others are also about at the end of their rope for it, but I won't rule out the genre as having interesting music it just means that I think temporarily they have exhausted it. Now I don't want to confuse you, Art Brut isn't bad at all, its totally decent to me but I'm clearly frustrated because I think that a lot of bands are jumping onto the bandwagon and that is something that never sits well with me. They are taking advantage of the fact that a sound is hot so that mindless zombies like myself don't notice when we are listening to 5 bands that all sound the same. Perhaps the greatest example of this are all those shitty bands that sound like Nickelback, you know, Theory of A Deadman, Finger Eleven, Puddle of Mudd, and a smattering of fecal matter from these assorted fucks. Ok now that you get the idea I'm just worried that bands like Art Brut, Maximo Park and Franz Ferdinand will eventually lose their freshness to me because other bands in the genre are using up all the ideas. Regardless at the moment this isn't a huge concern but the saga that is Art Brut is, so I will save my rant about Chad Krueger for another day.
Lets start with the first song, track one is called "Formed A Band". Which I think is a neat name for a lead track to an album, so I'm already pumped before I hear the lone guitar riff start this song. This song actually reminds me a bit of Iggy Pop, mostly because of the way that the lead singer is acting all cracked out in the way that he is singing the song. Overall the effect probably is closer to that crazy dude from The Vines, I mean the only reason no one can top Iggy is because he was on heroin. Anyways this song is pretty wicked because of that old school feel that I get with it, its a little trippy at times but I suppose the THC in my blood is helping me deal with it at the moment. It's odd because normally I don't associate trippy with good, I normally think its weird and jarring and I'd rather listen to something else. In the song they do refer to themselves as forming the band and that of course is the point of the song, really to reiterate, if you didn't already know, that they are in fact a band.
"Emily Kane" is the third song on the CD. I think that this is probably about a girl that the lead singer knew from back in the day, he seems to refer to the age of fifteen. I guess it is a deep crush, I hope this is some sort of metaphorical song and not so much one about a real girl, because otherwise dude its a little pathetic. The song is catchy, especially the chorus where the lead singer declares over and over how he is still in love with Emily Kane, who no doubt is somewhere not knowing that this song even exists. After talking to Dan he informs me that this song along with the first one are the singles from the album, I had no previous knowledge of that so hilariously enough I reviewed the songs just based on my preferences so that probably means they made accurate selections. Of the two I would probably say that this song is the better of the two, and usually that doesn't happen with me and a song that is about some dude whining about some girl that broke his heart, so the song must be good.
Track six is "Good Weekend" which seems like a weird name for the song considering that within the song the lead singer is talking about a brand new girlfriend. The chorus is really good, the song is about getting a brand new girlfriend and how elated he is with this fact. From the sounds of things though she is high maintainence as he has to message her and call her all day which I would assume is time consuming. The best part of the song is where they do this little jam session and then quiet down while the drummer picks up this ascending beat on his snare and then the lead singer starts screaming about how he has seen this girl naked twice. It's pretty hilarious because he is so excited about the whole thing, so it pretty much reflects how someone in a new relationship can be ga-ga. The guitar on this song is pretty good but I prefer the drums I think, during the song it seems to hold it together the most and from track to track I seem to be noticing his work.
The title track is the seventh one, "Bang Bang Rock & Roll". The chorus on this song is funny to me because it seems like the band is trying to talk themselves down from rock and roll alltogether. So they almost sound shameful and before they go into a series of yelling BANG! BANG! ROCK AND ROLL!, the lead singer talks about how they don't want to play rock and roll anymore because they think that its boring. So since they are one hundred percent kidding you can see the obvious humour in this song, and if you can't then clearly you can't see they are being synical. The song isn't that long, just a touch over two minutes but most of these songs aren't too long anyways which is probably good because they seem better in short little blasts. I find that this is one of the songs that I like the most on the CD, its probably second as I am pretty sure "18,000 Lira" is a song that I like more. This song is one that gives you a good idea of how hard rocking the band can be, they certainly don't take it "to the max!" on every track but I can't expect that because thats crazy.
The nineth song on the CD is called "Moving to L.A.". I think that the point of the song is that they would like to move to Los Angeles, and who wouldn't? Having never been there I have no idea but the hype surrounding it is large enough for me to assume that it would be a wicked place to live. One thing that is for sure he is going to extreme lengths to see if he can get to L.A., since he is talking about attempting to get deported. I don't really know how deportation works but I don't think that you really have any choice in the matter. This is one of the more chill songs on the CD, not really the ones that I am into, but it is still one that I happen to like, there are a few other tracks I would throw into a similar sound as this one. Of those songs this is the one that I happen to like the most, you are more than welcome to download the album or buy it and find out which one you like the most.
The last song that I am going to talk about is "18,000 Lira", this song also happens to be the last song on the disc. The song starts right into its chorus, this song actually reminds me a lot of The Hives. Come to think of it, the whole CD really does remind me a little bit of The Hives, the songs are short and concise and good. This song is about a minute long, so it is the shortest one on the CD, I think it was made to be fun so its like a quick little shot before the entire CD is over. The guitar is really strong on this song, it is especially the driving force behind the pace of the song. It is formatted like a regular song, it just happens on a much smaller level three chorus and two verse. I think largely due to its uniqueness is a reason why this is my favourite song on the CD but also the pace is epic it just motors through and the chorus is really catchy.
Tracks to Steal: "18,000 Lira", "Bang Bang Rock & Roll", "Good Weekend", "Emily Kane", "Formed A Band", "Moving to L.A."
Is Art Brut able to be better than all the other stuff coming from the UK?
When is there a level achieved of "too much post-punk"?
Judgment Passed
Score: 8.25
Like I said, this is a totally decent album. If you like all that post-punk stuff from the UK you are going to love this CD, so I can't imagine what is stopping you from downloading or buying the album as you will likely find it excellent.
- Brandon