Art Brut

When Eddie Argos shuffled onto the stage to his band playing the intro to ‘Back in Black’, eyes full of the glaze of a man who had consumed all his entire rider, and quickly, things didn’t look terribly promising – a drunk gig can be no gig at all. The crowd shouldn’t have worried though, because as soon as the front man launched into opener ‘Formed a Band’ he was as animated as a man with a rocket up his jacksy.

It is a terrific show from beginning to end. Whilst this is Argos’s band, no question, each member contributes. Jasper Future and Ian Catskilkin are full of punk riffs and poses whilst Freddie Feedback provides some nimble bass work whilst looking divine. She enjoys the gigs as much as anyone else, singing along with almost every word even though there is no microphone with 2 metres of her (or possibly because there is no microphone within…)

She should be familiar with the songs though, as the set has barely changed in the last 12 months, most of it based around 2005’s ‘Bang Bang Rock and Roll’ album, adding just three new tracks including new single ‘Nag Nag Nag Nag’. However, although they have been quiet in the UK for that period, their appeal in America is soaring, probably due to Argos’s utter Englishness, so you can forgive them the lack of writing as they play to that vast marketplace. This audience certainly absolves the inactivity as the mosh pit extends song by song. Argos seems taken aback at times by the crowd surfers, recoiling further towards his drummer as the Dr Martens fly and his ‘security’ try to dump them from whence they came, sometimes head first. “I’m not very rock and roll” he says “and I worry about you…be careful down there!”

Part of Art Brut’s appeal is that Argos should not be famous. He is ridiculously monikered, has a bit of a paunch and out of control eyebrows and, most pertinently, he can’t sing a note. What has got him this far is his witty way with words and how he uses them to accurately describe the aspirations of those awkward late teen/early twenties years, whether it be that we cannot get a girlfriend for love nor money or that we know there has to be something better out there but we don’t know what it is or how to get it.

Those aspirations are surmised by Art Brut’s sole apparent aim, and the regular chant of the sold out crowd pre and post gig – “Art Brut, Top of the Pops”. With that programme now departed the task couldn’t be more difficult, but this band will never give up trying and that effort makes them one of the best live bands around. Britain should take them to their hearts now before they disappear to the US permanently.

FUTURE GIGS