Art Brut - Vs. Satan (Cooking Vinyl)
3/5
By: Alex Hibbert
When 'Bang, Bang, Rock And Roll' was released, Eddie Argos could have been the port laureate for the wave of guitar led bands quickly descending upon the nation. But after four years, is the joke wearing thin?
Stuffed into the 'Art Wave' label back then, in fact Brut inhabit a place much more akin to that of Jeffrey Lewis, Jonathan Richman, or the more contemporary Nodzzz. 'Art Wave' does make sense, however, in the self depreciating wit and indulgent irony of subject matter that Brut elicit. Did Art Brut always sound like they were taking the piss out of themselves? Maybe, but it was a joke we could all share - in Vs. Satan at times it isn't, and the irony of the movement becomes self indulgent, banal almost. The 'Brut almost get away with it, almost, but the incessant reliance on the formula that made Bang, Bang so great now means by the end of this release, the joke's wearing very thin. The self referential ironic nature of songs means they seem to be parodying themselves, not their actual targets.
You do have to admire the spirit, however. Eddie may well re-tread the same route at times, 'Slap Dash For No Cash' could be the elementary version of The Replacements' later idolising, which isn't a world away from 'My Little Brother,' but here Eddie espouses the virtues of lo-fi records not in the pursuit of greater cultural diversity, or artistic importance, but because "those are the records I like." Argos' obsession with meta narratives is revisited throughout Vs Satan, but in name checking the mundane nature of life his (dis)likes also become bromidic, as in 'Twist And Shout,' or 'The Passenger,' in which we witness Argos's anti-love affair with public transport, Argos never reaffirming the candour so effulgent when it wasn't quite so determined. It's like a meta-meta narrative, Argos singing about his life in his songs, subsequently written about here (and around here)... in fact I'm confused just writing this.
That's not to say there's no life in Argos' self depreciating failures, in fact the fallout of Brut's major excursions birth the best track here. 'Demons Out,' could be indicative of the new Argos regime, if 'Bad Weekend' rejected the industry that they had to deal with, then here Brut go one further, rejecting the record buying public that serves the industry, "We hate them! This is Art Brut! Vs. Satan." Argos' focus shifts, from the result to the reason. And the conclusion? It sounds absolutely amazing, Art Brut sound better than ever, the bass slowly ascending as a torrent of guitar distorts in the background.
So after all that, seems like the joke hasn't really changed, but Argos' relationships certainly have. What he still manages to do, and which wasn't easy then, is to espouse his views whilst been overtly funny, and rarely, if ever, arch. In fact it was the music we avoided, considered secondary to Eddie's wit, but in fact Vs. Satan actually sounds like a band! A band that can really play! Sure they sounded passable, even at times exciting on their debut, but EMI's input meant that the gloss of second album, It's A Bit Complicated, never really built on the early promise. Considering the nonconformist nature of Brut, they're almost fundamentally attached to the verse-chorus tradition, but that production here saves the ship. Argos' wit isn't exacerbated enough to mean Vs. Satan is a must, but the evolution of Brut's musicality, and Argos unquenchable charm, means that, for now, it's at least a 'try again.'
Artists in this article: Art Brut
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