"Listen to Me: Ignore Your Parents" (Art Brut, Mercury Lounge, 6/1/09)

I have missed these guys.  I've missed the enthusiastic apologetic enthusiasm, I've missed the Jasper Future faces, I've missed pogoing around about a shade of Blue.

When I last saw Art Brut (myspace, blog), Top of the Pops still existed.  It was easy to take them for granted a few years ago, when they were very consciously rotating through every venue in the city.  I saw them at least four times when they were supporting their first record, and while Eddie Argos' routine was never less than enjoyable, it was revealing itself to be a routine.  Not good for either comedy or confessional, that, so I stayed away for a while.

Last night was the first of a nominally sold-out five-night run at the Mercury Lounge, a return to the site of the band's first New York City show, a good opportunity to watch them reboot their bon mots.

And you know, it was an Art Brut show.  Somewhere along the line they dumped the heavy metal intro.  The supporting players - "on bass, Art Brut, on lead guitar, Art Brut..." - seemed less assertive in general, though Future still hangs from the lip of the stage gape-mouthed (the stand-up drummer, with his pronounced combover, creepy moustache, and sweated-through shirt, is looking sort of NAMBLAriffic these days).  They weren't as showy or crisp as I'd remembered them, they might still be warming up around the new material.

Art Brut vs. Satan is a good record, clever songs, Black Francis blah blah, buy it, listen to it plenty.  But I'm not sure that new Art Brut records do anything but give the band an excuse to continue existing.  Which is fine!  I don't think they'll ever escape the shadow of Bang Bang Rock & Roll, I don't think I'll ever want them to.  That record's underrated even by those of us who love it; when this decade sorts itself out, it'll be one of those few albums people will tuck in their trousers and sneak away with.  By their third record Argos has wrung what wisdom he can from pop songs, comic books, and an extended adolescence of perpetual failures.  It's cute that his ode to public transportation turns into an admission that its inefficiency is just another opportunity for procrastination, but, c'mon.

Art Brut - The Replacements (mp3)(buy)

Argos - unlike most bands that try, which is most bands these days - can successfully appropriate other bands and other bands' songs as source material.  Satan name-drops U2, Brian Eno, The Beatles and Stones (last night, he added The Beach Boys and Ramones to "What a Rush," Razorlight to "Demons Out!") and steals old titles for new songs ("The Passenger," "Twist and Shout").  Bobby Fuller gets reworked in "Mysterious Bruises:"  "I fought the floor and the floor won."  It's because Art Brut's self-conscious mission statement - look at us, we formed a band - was itself a retreat into music.  They're allowed to bitch about pop charts ("Demons" was introduced as "a civilized customer complaint").  The realization that "those are just records that our parents owned" seems like blasphemy in this world, and not because it involves John & Paul & Mick & Keef.

"The Replacements" isn't about the Westerberg/Stinson Brothers band (or the Keanu Reeves movie), but a whole catalog of listener issues.  The joy of discovering an old band!  The desire to affirm your emotional connection with music by evaluating its authenticity.  How relevance removes generational gaps.  Whether it's better to buy old stuff used (saving money and stealing some earlier-adopter cred) or new (extra tracks!).  (Somehow, this song isn't called "Elvis Costello, How Much Money Do You Need?")

The best part of the song - which is tuneful and riffy like the best Art Brut songs are - is Argos' mid-line laughter near the end.  Because it's all very silly that any of this is important, but it's still all very important, and isn't that great?

The Replacements - Seen Your Video (mp3)(buy reissue/secondhand)

It's not like the ‘Mats weren't self-aware.  That (and gosh, I love that) splash of self-righteousness comes from an album called Let it Be.

They didn't play that, last night.  They've somehow got to spread these songs out over a week, and the set list was pretty evenly divided between their three records (and included one "hard to find" song I hadn't heard before).  Some things I'm still missing:  The declaration that punk rock ist nicht tot.  The obligatory finger towards Los Angeles.  New liquor/rock star rhyming combos ("I'm drinking Tanqueray with Beyoncé, Tuaca with Lady Gaga...").

And I was hoping they'd arrive with a corrective to the plea they used to trot out during "Formed a Band."  Sure, everyone, go ahead, start a band, start a website, paint something, whatever.  But DO NOT E-MAIL EVERYONE ABOUT IT.  DO NOT HIRE A PUBLIC RELATIONS REPRESENTATIVE.  Keep it to yourself.  Because unlike Art Brut, most bands formed aren't worth the excitement or attention.

New stories were sort of wanting.  The false break in "Alcoholics Unanimous" was used to say hello ("It's been ages, you haven't aged a bit").  "Modern Art" came early, and Argos paced the room's floor (house was far from packed, there was ample room for a small, friendly mosh pit) barking about a visit to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, how admission cost 13 Euros, how because it cost 13 Euros he forced himself to spend more time there than he wanted, and how somehow he hurt his back.  "Modern Art," he summarized, "made me want to go... ouch."

In the middle of "Emily Kane" he basically said, "You all heard that before."  No new juicy details.  The biggest laugh came from Future after Argos started the encore with the words, "We never do this."

Hopefully the week will have enough variety and energy for the run to take on the air of a low-key event.  But ultimately Art Brut is another one of those bands whose presence is so strong and meaningful that they just need to show up and be who they are.  If they stopped doing that I would miss them horribly.

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Opening act Demander (myspace) was pretty bad!  I don't know if we need another round of that sound, but if we do, it needs to be with a much tighter outfit.

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Also there:  Brooklyn Vegan has pics.

Bill Soundbites and Jerry Yeti were in attendance.  Bloggers '05 represent.

tags: art brut  concert reviews  

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