View Larger
Rate it!
Avg: 4.0 (133 ratings)
- Date Released: January 1, 2005
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Label: Downtown Records
A party at the crossroads of art and artifice.
-
We Say...
Pop music loves to look in the mirror — and Art Brut are one of the only current British bands willing to make faces in it. Their absurdly self-referential, unapologetically catchy debut, Bang Bang Rock and Roll, anticipated how much the Coldplay nation needed a piss-take, and now spearhead the backlash against pompous sincerity just like their spiritual granddad Johnny Rotten in punk's first generation.
Breakthrough single "Formed a Band" is their manifesto. "Look at us!" it asks, mocking (and begging for) fly-by-night NME celebrity. When you do look, you'll see that their awkward leader Eddie Argos, who resembles a deflated Robert Smith, is an odd cover boy indeed. Argos doesn't sing so much as hurl his lyrics, expounding on new girls, exes, little brothers, flatulence and delusions of deportation over an enthusiastic bare-bones punk sound a la the Fall or Alternative TV. Like Mark E. Smith or Mark Perry, Argos is best at wry sarcasm, as on the title cut. "I can't stand the sound of the Velvet Underground/ I can't stand that sound the second time around," he snarls while backups scream "White Light! White Heat!" over a hair metal boogie. He then demands "No more songs about sex, and drugs and rock & roll — it's booorrring," recalling the quip of the ‘80s British sitcom The Young Ones as the conversation-stopping answer to the media's rock return hype. Of course, the media loves nothing more than being slagged, and so pop's perfect circle goes unbroken. -
They Say...
"Formed a Band" was such a brilliant first single, and summed up Art Brut's aesthetic so perfectly, that there almost seemed to be no need for more songs from them. Driven by a jagged, ragged guitar riff, it sounded like it was thrown together in ten minutes tops, and had lots of great, quotable lyrics ("I wanna be the boy -- the man -- who writes the song/That makes Israel and Palestine get along"), which were held together and topped off by Alfred Molina look-alike Eddie Argos' speak-singing -- which he informed his listeners wasn't irony, and wasn't rock & roll. Actually, it's both, and there's a lot more of both on Bang Bang Rock & Roll, an album whose title kills and celebrates rock & roll at the same time. "Formed a Band," which appears here in a slightly more polished version than the original Rough Trade single, is still Art Brut's calling card, but the album has plenty of nearly-as-great songs to choose from. Chief among them is "Emily Kane," a plea Argos wrote to find his lost teenage sweetheart. He doesn't just pine for her, though, he wants "school kids on buses singing [her] name." Truly brilliant in its sweet simplicity -- especially on the breakdown, where he lists, to the second, exactly how long it's been since he's seen Emily -- it's an incredibly vivid distillation of how large your first love looms in your memory. On the album's title track, Art Brut return to "Formed a Band"-style, tongue-in-cheek meta-punk: while Argos snarls, "I can't stand the sound of the Velvet Underground!" the backing vocals chime in "White light! White heat!" and a John Cale-like violin screeches in the background. While all this irony could be suffocating, there's a pure, unadulterated joy underneath most of Art Brut's best songs that prevents their witty stance from becoming too clever-clever; the way Argos roars, "I've seen her naked twice!" about his new girlfriend on "Good Weekend" feels entirely genuine. Indeed, a lot of Art Brut's appeal lies in Argos' way with storytelling, whether he's singing about impotence ("Rusted Guns of Milan"), drinking Hennessey with Morrissey ("Moving to L.A."), or indulging his fascinations with Top of the Pops or Italy ("18,000 Lira"). Though it runs out of steam slightly (at least in comparison to the pop art brilliance of the band's best songs) on its second half, Bang Bang Rock & Roll is a terrific debut, and Art Brut are smart, catchy, and fun -- everything you could want in a band, even if they do sound like they formed ten minutes ago.
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 15 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 15 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
| 01. |  |
Formed A Band |
2:57 |
|
| 02. | |
My Little Brother |
2:23 |
|
| 03. | |
Emily Kane |
2:41 |
|
| 04. | |
Rusted Guns |
3:45 |
|
| 05. | |
Modern Art |
2:23 |
|
| 06. | |
Good Weekend |
2:49 |
|
| 07. | |
Bang Bang Rock & Roll |
2:14 |
|
| 08. | |
Fight |
2:37 |
|
| 09. | |
Moving To L.A. |
3:29 |
|
| 10. | |
Bad Weekend |
3:03 |
|
| 11. | |
Stand Down |
2:51 |
|
| 12. | |
18,000 Lira |
1:11 |
|
| 13. | |
These Animal Menswe@r |
2:05 |
|
| 14. | |
Really Bad Weekend |
3:47 |
|
| 15. | |
Maternity Ward |
3:15 |
|
15 Total Tracks, 41:30 Total Length
Loading...
Playlists If you like Art Brut, check out these member playlists
Credits
- Joe Dilworth - Original Photography // Howard Gray - Producer // Howard Gray - Mixing // Mark Rankin - Engineer // John Fortis - Producer // John Fortis - Mixing // Ashley Krajewski - Assistant Engineer
Choose from over 7 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs available for 50¢ or less
eMusic subscriptions start at just $11.99 a month for 24 downloads - that's just 50¢ per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as 42¢ per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.
© 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC