An ace few days away and a fucking awesome punk gig at a great venue. I do regret one thing, which was not joining in the post-gig revelry with the band. But that's one hell of another story, and you won't hear it from me.
Art Brut
Amsterdam Paradiso
Sat 13th November 2004
Frontman Eddie Argos may be dressed something like a supply teacher, all cotton-trousers and sketchy shirt, and he may stagger a little on his feet; but when he and his colleagues smash out a set of such vibrancy, such sartorial misdemeanours are instantly forgiven. The upstairs room of the Paradiso is a curious blend of Londoners and Lowlanders, brought together for this electrifying and utterly compelling performance from a band whose delight in the form is matched only by the thrilling nature of the set. Every song, in truth, feels anthemic, from the shrugging-of-influence 'These Animal Meanswear' to the sweet-natured but media-cynical 'Bad Weekend'. In fact, as Eddie jumps up on monitors, there's more than a touch of irony in the latter track's insistence that 'Popular Culture No Longer Applies To Me'. Not least given that Art Brut spend the next five minutes bashing out 20 second snatches of music in response to the chipper vocalist's enquiry as to what various artistic styles sound like, from Van Gogh and the impressionists to pop art. On one hand, then, Art Brut are an act capable of sheer aggressive fizz-pop bad-bang Rock N Roll - final track 'Formed A Band' is as triumphant and uplifting as any track of 2004, by a mile - whilst at the same time playing with perception and culture. Not that they'd necessarily all admit to it, but there's something of depth here that makes them current torch-holders of some twisted, artsy-cultural Zeitgeist whilst concurrently revelling in the immediacy of their half-cut, crayon-scrawled mashmusik. Put simply, it's rough, it's fast, it's exciting, it's a whole lot of fun, and it rocks; whether it is art or not is debatable. Which is, probably, the whole point.
Joe Shooman
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