Art Brut / Brilliant! Tragic!

Art Brut
Brilliant! Tragic!
(Cooking Vinyl)
* * * * *

Oh Eddie, let us count the ways we love thee. Actually, nuts to that. We’ve never been very good at maths and, frankly, figures don’t come into conveying how good this album is… unless you count the five stars at the top of this review. Smartarses.

The key to 'Brilliant! Tragic!’s success is its sense of balance. Too often punk bands will hit the overdrive peddle, thrash out fifteen songs in under half an hour and then promptly do one. It’s a tried and tested format, but there were always question marks about whether it was the right approach for Art Brut. Don’t believe us? Then let’s ask the man himself.

“With the last album we’d just remembered we were a punk band again, so it was all four to the floor and rock out”, says Mr Argos. “This time there are a few songs to let you catch your breath, so when we do rock the fuck out again it hits home harder”.

Fans of the band’s punk leanings shouldn’t fear: that snarling, biting edge from their last album is still very much on show. Listen to ‘Martin Kemp Welch Five-A-Side Football Rules!’ or ‘Bad Comedian’ (a bile-heavy rant about seeing a former partner with someone new) for proof.

Yet, even these tracks are permeated with lines like “How can you bear to hold his hand? I bet he signs his name in Comic Sans!”, delivering a level of wit and sarcasm that takes the edge off of all that angst. See? It’s all about the balance.

So ready yourselves, Artrockers. Ring the bells! Fire the cannons! Release the… erm, badgers! Art Brut are back, brilliant and not the least bit tragic.