Bushido Music Review: Art Brut

As you all know the Bushido’s musical steering committee consists of Jay-“Bird” Alexander, Bob Ailstock and random late night performances on Late Night with Conan O’Brian Show. I know the Bushido music reviews have been dreadfully slacking lately. What can I say? I haven’t caught Conan for a while and Bob’s swamped in Summer school, but Jay-Bird came through with three groups (Wolfmother, Radiohead front man, Thom Yorke’s new album-I’ll write about that album once it is on the shelves July 11th-and my new favorite Art Brut) that I have to pass along to the Bushido’s readers.

Jay-Bird passed me Art Brut’s “Bang, Bang, Rock and Roll” album on the Banana/Fierce Panda label at the beginning of June and I’ve been acoustically dissecting it ever since. The band is named after the “outsider” art movement described by French artist Jean Debuffet as the art created by mental patients, prisoners and the likes of Jenkins Hall brass-mindless, brutally natural without care for presentation or acceptance. Speaking of which, here is a prime example of why Art Brut is probably the most brilliant form of art. (Reuters) Indeed, Art is subjective (open to one’s own interpretation), but this takes the cake; the Royal Academy is displaying a slate plinth (slab of stone used as a display pedestal) and the piece of wood for attaching art in the Royal Academy’s summer exhibit. What makes this odd is that there was a sculpture of a head on the plinth, but (as hypothesized by the artist, David Hensel) the sculpture and the plinth became separated during the selection process, the head was denied, the plinth was accepted. I wish I knew creating art was that easy, then again, “Modern Art makes me want to rock out”! I digress; If you like bands such as Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, Hell-Led Zepplin and Clinic, you’ll go crazy for the eccentricity of Art Brut.

These British Indie rockers are not only musically talented, but they may have the most snarky, cerebrally funny lyrics that I have heard since Louis XIV or the Darkness put out their last record. Art Brut consists of guitarists Jasper Future, Ian Catskilkin, Mikey B on drums, red-headed bassists Frederica Feedback, and singer Eddie Argos who happens to refreshingly not hide his accent, “Yes, this is my singing voice.” Their first few cuts on this album were previously released as “Brutlegs”, but now are all on the album. Art Brut’s lyrics are what make this group. After you’ve listened to the album a few times, check the words. Anytime the first song on an album, Formed a band covers the band’s desire to write the song “that makes Israel and Palestine get along”, and that is as “popular as Happy Birthday” you know you are in for a ride. Emily Kane is a song about the crush Argo had on his prep-school girlfriend and how she was the best love of his life. Rusted Guns of Milan “leave the light on” has to do with erectile disfunction without the proper lighting. One of my favorite laid-back, bubble-gum jams is the 9th track, Moving to L.A. where Argos has the intentions of partying with Axle Rose and stripping down and riding his Harley Davidson down Sunset Strip. Finally, I had an idea while listening to My little brother-yes, I was driving the Silver Surfer-I think it would make excellent background music to a BMW advertisement where a young guy pulls up in an X-3, beside a slightly older guy in an X-5 with the initial beat of My little brother in the background. (Hey, BMW rewards imagination, a guy can dream, can’t he?) They both grin and nod to one another and the two vehicles turn away heading opposite streets-both have hot chicks riding shotgun. I am still working on it.

(Photo compliments of the Art Brut web-site.)