Send "Art Brut " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 All right, whose brilliant (i.e., tragic) idea was it for Eddie Argos to start singing? Was it producer Frank Black? Argos himself? Jasper "the Dolphin" Future? Did anybody actually think the problem with Art Brut was all the talking? I rather thought that was like the whole point. Granted, you either love the talking-singing thing or you hate it (see also: the Hold Steady), but at least it was their thing. And beyond being totally, instantly recognizable, it wasn't all that bad of a look for Art Brut, either: Argos' witty, conversational lyrics were always well served by his spoken delivery, offset by the band's playfully slick rock session band chops. But now Argos has gone from ranting about halting a make-out session to turn up a pop song, to singing (scarcely), "I want to be played in the background while couples drink their wine/ That would be a triumph with a voice like mine/ Everybody wants to feel sexy sometimes/ I can make it happen with a voice like mine."Well, at least he hasn't lost his wry sense of humor. But about this newfound singing business: Argos has discovered a voice that sounds a bit like Jarvis Cocker's, only if he'd lost it after a long night out drinking-- a little hoarse, whispering low so as not to upset the hangover. So the album opens with what might as well be its mission statement, "Clever Clever Jazz", a typically dry-humored song about a band punching above its weight: "Sorry that it doesn't sound like it's planned... can't you see we're doing the best that we can?" Next is another entry into the band's "Weekend" trilogy (now extended, Douglas Adams-like, to four songs if you count B-side "Really Bad Weekend"), "Lost Weekend", and while it's as clever and sweet as any of its predecessors, Argos' intonation doesn't exactly do it any extra favors. Some songs work fine with the singing: The above-quoted ballad "Sexy Sometimes" succeeds by dint of making Argos' very struggle the subject of its gently plodding fun, as does "Is Dog Eared" to some degree. And then halfway through the album, it seems like even Argos has started to think all this is a bad idea, reverting back for the remainder to his old patterns of speech and shouting. The results are, unsurprisingly, some of the album's strongest songs, largely because Argos just gets out of the way of his own lyrics. "Martin Kemp Welch Five A-Side Football Rules!" is a scorcher, covering the familiar Art Brut territories of football and unrequited schoolboy crushes. "Axel Rose" raucously praises its subject as being the sort of guy you'd want in your corner when giving the world the finger. Maybe best of this side is "Sealand", ending the album on a drifting note, a dream of starting a sovereign nation of two at sea that affectingly flips the motto of It's a Bit Complicated standout "People in Love": "People in love lie around and get fat/ I didn't want us to end up like that."...full text |
| Popmatters |
| It’s time we stop comparing Art Brut to Art Brut, and time we acknowledge the brief love affair that was Bang Bang Rock and Roll, It’s a Bit Complicated‘s sameness, Art Brut Vs. Satan‘s same sameness and accept the band for what they are: ironic sort-of-punkers-but-mostly-jokesters who like to pun Axl Rose and play Pixies-infused squelch-rock—which is exactly what they do on their new album, Brilliant! Tragic! Of course, saying Art Brut have recorded the same album four times over in a span of eight years would be to sell the band short by three albums. It’s important to remember how good Art Brut is at making rock ‘n’ roll that’s both heartfelt and hilarious: “Emily Kane”, “Passenger”, “Summer Job”, “People in Love”, “St. Pauli” and “DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshakes” are only a pinch of examples. Eddie Argos is quoted saying, “If [Brilliant! Tragic!] was a TV show, you’d define it as a dramedy.” He’s not far off, but the band’s new album’s title doesn’t just point to itself, it points to Art Brut as a whole. They’re a band that is very much brilliant (see: “Axel Rose” or “Formed a Band”), very much tragic (see: “I am the Psychic” or “The Replacements”), and oftentimes brilliant and tragic at the same time (see back-to-back album closers: “Ice Hockey” and “Sealand”)....full text |
| Slantmagazine |
| t doesn't take any music critic long to figure out that half of what musicians say about their albums can be safely disregarded, along with 90 percent of what makes it on to their press releases. Lady Gaga drummed up excitement for Born This Way by calling it the "album of the decade," folks in Britney Spears's camp talked up Femme Fatale's "experimental" sound, and, lest you think that the tendency to mismanage expectations is unique to A-listers, Art Brut's manic Eddie Argos told interviewers that he had learned to sing for Brilliant! Tragic! Truthfully, his deadpan verses and howled choruses are about as tuneful as they've ever been, but before you cry false advertisement, you should bear in mind that Argos's vocal coach was the Pixies' Black Francis—not exactly a classicist himself. Besides, no one's ever come to an Art Brut album looking for chops. Or hooks. Mostly, I think, they come for the punchlines. If that's the case, then Brilliant! Tragic! is a perfectly adequate entry into Art Brut's collection of surrealist post-punk tragicomedies, though it isn't much of a departure from the preceding Art Brut vs. Satan. As always, Argos wails darkly humorous observations on life, love, and scene cred over his band's serrated garage rock, which is mostly minimal, but perks up in places thanks to guitarist Ian Catskilkin, the man responsible for thoughtful touches like the bitchin' guitar solo on "Lost Weekend." Ultimately, there's just not enough going on musically to keep one's appraisal of Argos's material from determining their reaction to the album: If you think he's in good form, this is the stuff of art-punk legend, and if you don't, you're liable to think of Art Brut as a poor man's Les Savy Fav....full text |
Art Brut lyrics
