Last week The Mercury Lounge was declared an "irony-free" zone as Art Brut was in town for a week long residency. Thanks to an uncharacteristic amount of foresight, I managed to talk Sarah into buying tickets for the last night of the stand months ago.
I've actually seen Art Brut once before, when they were the openers for The Hold Steady at The State Theatre in Minneapolis. That was a fun show, but The State is waaaaay too big a venue to enjoy this band. However, The Mercury Lounge is about the size of the Triple Rock, which is a pretty small space for a band that has gotten fairly big.
This isn't technically a review, so it's going to be a bit scattered.
First, there was a couple of guys billed as "DJ's" providing music in between sets. I don't recall the name of these two jerk offs, but they were the saddest excuse for DJs I've ever seen (and I'm immediately skeptical of anyone calling themself as a DJ). There were two turntables, but zero vinyl, merely one cord plugged into the table and two guys with iPods. Two iPods, one plug. They actually took turns. And, evidently, neither one of them as ever used an iPod before, because they had the volume all the way up, distorting everything into a fuzzed out mess. AND they would randomly switch songs in the middle (again, a real DJ does this on turntables, sequencing and fading songs into each other. This was just a full stop, followed by a new song). Have you ever been in a car with someone who was hellbent on playing songs for you, so they just keep clicking new songs and you can't tell what you're listening too? Don't you hate that guy? Actually, that rings a little close to home... I digress...
So, if you've ever heard an Art Brut record (and if you've downloaded my podcasts, you have) it's easy to see how well these songs can translate live. The show was an absolute blast. Lots of energy (despite this being the fifth night) and lots of fun.
I was surprised by how much personality the rest of this band has. The show would have lacked quite a bit if it was just Eddie Argos doing his post-Jarvis Cocker strut, but each member of the band was fun to watch and didn't seem at all like Eddie's "backing band."
Here's the track list (sorry, it's not in order) followed by whatever random Eddie Argos quotes I can remember about/during/relating to each song:
Alcoholics Unanimous ("I can no longer just shout for coffee and tea when I'm hungover. All my friends think I'm just singing now.")
Rusted Gun Of Milan ("Here's a song about how bad I am at sex.")
What A Rush ("I've since overcome my sexual problems. Here's a song about that.")
DC Comics & Chocolate Milkshake ("Even though I'm nearly 30!")
The Passenger ("I used to think Iggy Pop's 'The Passenger' was about riding the bus but then I found out it was about doing heroin in a limousine. So I thought I should write a song about how much I love riding the bus. Here's the real 'The Passenger.'")
Demons Out! (Everyone should go out and start a band. Look how much fun we're having! Look at our faces! We're all hungover, but we're having loads of fun! Here's three reasons you should start a band: 1. More records in record shops 2. It's loads of fun 3. If you don't, I'll kick your head in!)
Slap Dash For No Cash ("My sex...is on fire...My SEX is on fire!...Am I human or am I dancer? Millions of dollars and this is the best they could come up with?!?)
Summer Job
Formed A Band ("Then we're going to write the song that brings the Indians and Pakis together. Easy Peasy.")
My Little Brother ("He's downloaded nothing but bootlegs and B-sides. He burned them onto a CD, which he then taped and gave to me." Absolute crowd favorite. Everybody was loving it.)
Emily Kane ("I've actually met Emily now. She's got a boyfriend and I've got a girlfriend, so we're both happy in our own way, but this song helped me meet her. Can you believe it? So this song in no long about Emily Kane, but about the power of rock n roll." Also, the fade out featured Argos singing "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out." Clever.)
Modern Art (Actually performed twice, first as "DC Comics Makes Me Want To Rock Out." He prefaced this new version with a story of going to the DC offices and how great it was. "Of course, I phoned my mum right afterward and I was very excited. 'I've just gone to the DC Comics headquarters!' To which my mum replied, 'Oh that's nice. Did you meet Spiderman then?'"
Good Weekend (Still very enthusiastic about seeing this girl naked twice. Twice!)
Bad Weekend
St. Pauli (Allegedly this wasn't on the set list. A couple of superfans who had been there all week got them to play it.)
Nag Nag Nag Nag
"On the bass guitar: Art Brut!"
"On the lead guitar: Art Brut!"
"On rhythm guitar: Art Brut!"
"And on drums: Art Brut!"
So that's it. I was actually a little disappointed they didn't play a little more from It's A Bit Complicated, but that's minor complaint. If they turn up in your city, be sure to catch them.
Oh yeah, and one quick piss off to the hipsters standing behind us who acted too cool to buy into the "encore" routine. "Oh yeah, I'm going to cheer. Like they're not coming back out." Art Brut returns, "Oh yeah! Three more songs!" Listen, we all know it's kind of ridiculous, but just shut the fuck up. You're not more clever then the rest of us for realizing they'd probably come back out regardless of the amount of applause. If it bothers you that much, just leave after the intial set. Or vote with your dollars and don't go to shows featuring bands who perform encores. Or better yet, stay the fuck in Williamsburg and just be too cool for any show that's in a proper venue.
