Tuesday, 7 April 2009

ART BRUT – ALCOHOLICS UNANIMOUS (COOKING VINYL)


ART BRUT – ALCOHOLICS UNANIMOUS (COOKING VINYL)

To sport a unique, individual frontman appears to be a rare treat and real talent these days.  In Eddie Argos, Art Brut have gold.

Art Brut is a band that it is easy to adore.  They’re lumbering and frenetic, poppy and punky and contain a sense of play that very few of their peers possess.  They’re cool but they’re also clowns.  They’re not dogged down with haircuts or the desire to impress.  The recollections contained within their material do not scream of victory, they reek of battle and moments won and lost.  And most important of all: they have a sense of humour.

The strength is in the lyrics.  There is nothing flouncy in what they say, what they do.  What Argos writes and sings about is real life.  He is not bogged down in metaphor, his couplets state gut instincts.  His lines get to the fucking point, there is a fine economy in his words and thus its easy to ingest and easy to relate.  For this he must be honoured, such output is rare treasure.

“Alcoholics Unanimous” is as messy as its name would suggest.  Drunken affairs are what fuel Friday nights and relationships at a certain point in your life, its unavoidable, inevitable and inescapable.  It’s not all bad, just mostly bad.

This is a band that takes its name from a definition used for outsider art.  Such mentality suggests a wide influence and array of fervour that may not necessarily appeal to a mainstream audience.  The best things in life are often the worst.

Thesaurus moment:

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