Art Brut vs Satan

I won’t lie, I’m addicted to Art Brut. Since a chance encounter with a YouTube clip of ‘Formed A Band’ just two weeks ago, I can’t stop listening to them, and yesterday I finally found a CD of theirs at a HMV in Leeds. Art Brut vs Satan is their most recent effort, released in April this year, and by golly it is a good one. Topics range from heart-wrenching stories of being unable to talk to girls (‘Am I Normal?’) to rants from Eddie Argos about the public and their stupidity (‘Demons Out!’), all delivered in Argos’ distinctive ‘singing’ (read: talking) voice, to a backdrop of twangy guitars and thick, meaty basslines, made to sound all the more impressive by the marvellous Black Francis on production duties.

The aforementioned ‘Demons Out!’ is the album’s centrepiece, figuratively and literally (it has five songs either side of it), a tongue-in-cheek stab at the music charts of today. “How am I supposed to sleep at night when no-one likes the music we like?” Argos laments, before proclaiming his hatred for the record-buying public, and adding that “this is Art Brut vs Satan,” the line from which the album takes its title. Other lyrical highlights include ‘The Passenger,’ a tribute to public transportation, and ‘Slap Dash For No Cash,’ where we are told about the records Mr Argos likes to buy (“some call it lo-fi, if you say so, cool your warm jets, Brian Eno”). There are humorous asides aplenty, with every song leaving me with a big, dumb smile right across my face.

“How have I only just found out about The Replacements?” is the chorus to the album’s 8^th track, ‘The Replacements.’ All I can say is, how have I only just found out about Art Brut? Even Eddie Argos' apparent tone-deafness can't ruin this fantastic album.

9/10