Brit Music Scene

Art Brut Album Review | It’s A Bit Complicated

by Dave Parrack on July 12th, 2007

I love Art Brut. I felt I should say that before I start the album review so there’s no thoughts of a conflict of interest. I first heard of them in 2004 when ‘Formed a band’ and ‘Modern Art’ started being played on MTV2 and Radio 1. I remember ‘Emily Kane’ being released as a single and hearing snippets of their excellent first album. And then I kind of lost track of what they were up to until I saw them support Maximo Park earlier this year and the love affair was rekindled.

I love the idea of Art Brut, which is kind of just form a band, don’t think about it, just do it and see what happens. To this end, Art Brut have a lot of bands who say they formed as a result of their influence, and name themselves after the band as a kind of homage. They have names such as AB17 and AB4. American Indie rockers ‘We Are Scientists’ are actually an Art Brut franchise, AB47. Now there’s trivia for you!

I’ve been playing first album ‘Bang Bang, Rock and Roll’ on repeat over the last few months so I was uber excited to get hold of a copy of ‘It’s a bit complicated’. It didn’t disappoint, and even though on first listen I wasn’t totally grabbed, like all the best records it grows on you increasingly with each listen.

It instantly sounds more produced. If the last one was written on the fly and recorded in a bedroom, this one was written while gigging and produced in a studio. The lyrics have always been strongly story driven with not much subtlety to them, and that carries on here. It’s a very short, punchy album, weighing in at just 34 minutes long, but is all the better for it. It’s almost pure punk in it’s aspirations, except the fact that the sound is more acute and less jagged than your average Sex Pistols album.

Let’s take a look at each track:-

1. ‘Pump up the volume’. Starts the album off nicely and sets you on to the humour and style you should expect. I love the chorus of “I know it’s wrong, to break from your kiss to turn up a pop song“. This song reminds me of The Flaming Lips in places.

2. ‘Direct hit’. This should be just that, at least if there is a musical God who can grant such wishes. Simple guitars and a tune which races you to the end of the song. The opening riff transported me back to the 80s and a bit of cheesy rock goodness, not necessarily a bad thing.

3. ‘St. Pauli’. Not the best song on the album, but a strong chorus. The use of German in the line “Punk rock ist nicht tot” (punk rock is not dead), is inspired, even if Eddie only learnt it from a 7 inch record. St. Pauli is a district of Hamburg in Germany, and known as the centre of the German punk movement.

4. ‘People in love’. One of my favourite songs on the whole album. It displays Eddie Argos’ conversational singing style superbly. He talks about being in love and then splitting up. He speaks directly to lost lovers and exes through the song.

5. ‘Late Sunday evening’. Not the strongest song, but a heavy bassline and a song which keeps the middle of the album thundering on. It’s got a bit of a party atmosphere, and reminded me of ‘Madness’ a little. The use of trumpets and brass gives it a different feel from the rest of the album.

6. ‘I will survive’. This is slightly different than the ‘Gloria Gaynor’ classic. I can see this being a riot at live gigs. Again,it starts out like an retro 80s tune, something you might hear on Guitar Hero, but soon kicks in to a rip roaring classic piece of Indie.

7. ‘Post soothing out’. This is catchy as hell and should be a future single. From the incessant guitar riff, to Eddie repeating “Every day is just like starting over, we try so hard, but we keep on falling over“.

8. ‘Blame it on the trains’. Talking about not wanting to get up for work after a heavy night out. It’s a feeling we’ve all had, and sums the attitude up perfectly. I love how he blames the trains for all the times he’s been late in the past. We all know blaming inanimate objects is pointless but that doesn’t stop him doing it. The guitar solo near the end completely rocks.

9. ‘Sound of summer’. This has got a very anthemic feel to it, and should be another hit at gigs. It’s talking about making mixtapes to soundtrack their summers when they were younger. This tune has a very raw quality, with a sound almost like the crack of the vinyl or hiss of the tape referred to throughout.

10. ‘Nag nag nag nag’. Best track on the album. The guitars throughout this song are genius, almost riding you through the duration. This is Eddie talking how even though he’s grown up, he’s still making the same mistakes over small and infantile concerns.

11. ‘Jealous Guy’. I like this song, and it finishes the album superbly. If you took Eddie’s voice out, it would sound very much like an 80s rock song, which seems to be a theme running throughout.

Overall, ‘It’s a bit complicated’ is a great album, and moves Art Brut on to the next level, without losing any of the genius which made them a fan favourite for the last 2 years. Surely some chart success and world domination isn’t too far behind them? They surely deserve it.

Artist - Art Brut
Album - It’s a bit complicated
Tracks - 11
Running time - 33:55
Release Date - June 19th 2007
BMS Rating - 8/10

http://www.artbrut.org.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/artbrut

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POSTED IN: Albums, Alternative, Art Brut, Indie, Reviews