Ready, Art Brut?

Eddie Argos wants to be a famous rock star. Or maybe he doesn’t. It is difficult to tell from the lyrics he writes. But there is no denying the band he fronts, Art Brut, deserves a lot more attention than they are getting.

The band played Johnny Brenda’s in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia on Saturday, a rollicking show filled with the kind of snide irony that makes Art Brut one of the funniest group’s in rock ‘n’ roll. The band is tight — drummer Mikey Breyer banged and banged, driving the post-punk forward along with the heavy bottom provided by bassist Freddy Feedback, the two guitar ripping and snorting.

Any singer would be grateful to front such a crack outfit, but Argos is more than a standard front man. He’s got the lounge-singer shtick down perfectly — that is, assuming the lounge singer is Johnny Rotten but thinks he’s Bryan Ferry.

Basically, Art Brut is all about attitude — as anyone who has heard their latest release, Art Brut vs. Satan, can attest. Argos railed about record stores — yes, record stores — that sell DVDs, slammed the Kings of Leon, ordered audience members to form a band, got into the audience and commanded that everyone dance.

It was hard not to, though the crowded dance floor below me — I was up above the band with a perfect view of the stage — had little room for full-out foot work.

The band ran through 18 songs in about an hour and a half — after a tight, but derivative set from Cymbals Eat Guitars — picking from each of its three albums and leaving everyone, the audience, the band members, even the bartenders, sweat-soaked and satisfied.

The set list, according to Music Snobbery:

1. “Alcoholics Unanimous”
2. “Bang Bang Rock and Roll”
3. “The Passenger”
4. “Pump Up the Volume”
5. “Summer Job”
6. “Bad Weekend”
7. “Demons Out”
8. “Emily Kane”
9. “Nag Nag Nag Nag”
10. “Love to L.A.”
11. “DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshakes”
12. “Modern Art”
13. “Direct Hit”
14. “My Little Brother”
15. “Slap Dash to No Cash”
16. ENCORE: “Formed a Band”
17. “Twist and Shout”
18. “Post Soothing Out”

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet