Art Brut It's A Bit Complicated by: Al Cottrill Mon:09-Jul-07 Label: Mute Year: 2007 WB rating 70 out of 100

‘Art Brut’:. Art by the maladroit and maladjusted, the misanthropes and malcontents; art by the outsiders. In the case of the band, they were outsiders operating on the inside – or was it vice-versa? With their debut album, Bang Bang Rock And Roll they came close to perfecting art-punk. They were cooler than cool by trying not to be; accepted because they didn’t want to be; and loved because they weren’t trying. But that was the irony, and that was the joke: ‘I know that you know that I know’. And it would have all collapsed in on itself if they weren’t so funny, and so damn good.

Art Brut were a double-entendre dripping in sarcasm. Forming a band only to prove that they could, they dismissed the irony they were swamped in; claiming lies and laughing off obvious truths. They feigned ignorance to their obvious talents, instead reaching out to the tuneless punk gods, and with vicious wit attacked their lives, rock and roll and the relationship between them. It was never about the music – the angular guitars and tweaked drumming were only a canvas for the lyrics. Without them, the backing could have been any generic Gang of Four rip-off, but (Eddie) Argos’ vocals were the perfect anaesthesia to these bands. With The Futureheads, they provided something different to the pack, and with Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand, they formed a quartet of bands that revived Britpop (and opened the door for Arctic Monkeys).

Their second album, It’s A Bit Complicated, is different. They’re an established band now, a pop band playing punk and still deriding rock ‘n’ roll. That scratchy sound and those shouty vocals wouldn’t do for a follow-up. Instead, this is the break-up album – the obvious next step for the second album of a band so self-aware. This is the post-girlfriend phase, where all Art Brut want is to be drunk, forget and (to paraphrase Argos), “see as many girls naked as possible”. But it’s not only the themes that have progressed. Originally, they shared a certain aesthetic with Pulp, a mentality with Jonathan Richman, and a sound between Gang of Four and Ian Dury. It is a rough estimation at best. In its own way, It’s A Bit Complicated has moved on from these references, leaving the generic, angular art-punk guitars behind and expanding its breadth of influences.

The new, larger sound can be found from the first moments, as ‘Pump Up The Volume’ does just that, already threatening a nearly danceable tune. It settles down once Argos’ wanders in, musing that “I know I shouldn’t and it’s possibly wrong/To break from your kiss and turn up a pop song.” And that is Argos character, and consequently Art Brut, summed up in one line: Immature, conflicted, with an awkward relationship with girls that always comes second to a love of music and its lifestyle. They are hardly world-worrying dilemmas though, the racing, undeniably catchy ‘Direct Hit’ contending with dancing to pick up a crush; the disjointed ‘Sound of Summer’, is the politics of mix-tape creation; and rocking ‘Nag, Nag, Nag, Nag’ considering whether the posing is still worth it. They are personal worries, rather than the attacks of Bang Bang, and it gives Complicated a regretful air. It’s an important switch, because this new mood doesn’t fit Argos’ nearly as well as his Bang Bang character. His Saturday night shouting and partying is a lot more fun than this mid-week depression, slovenly lifestyle and depressing break-ups.

Somewhere in-between, Argos lost his fire, his enthusiasm for life. Much of Bang Bang’s charm was his vicious sarcasm and irony – and his enthusiastic shouting – on Complicated he seems reticent, and although his stories are more personal, they are also more sedate. The rooftop ranting and wild frustrations that gave the first album such raw bite are missing; there is nothing on Complicated like the pure fun that comes from listening to Argos’ ‘Modern Art’ rant or Bang Bang Rock And Roll’s ‘punk’ fury. However, he has grown and matured since the last album, and it fits his character’s evolution. If Art Brut had simply repeated Bang Bang they would have been criticised for a lack of progression. As such, Complicated is something new, they have developed the character, improved the music, swapped excitement for skills, but superficiality for depth. To an extent these were mutually exclusive options; if Argos’ old energy had also been retained, the result would have been overwhelming. Instead, the instrumental expansion to a richer and more melodic sound is an evolution from their debut, with Argos’ vocals on an inverse trajectory. A perfect example of where this works is ‘People in Love’, Art Brut’s most accessible song yet, with an almost conventional (and beautifully Brit-pop) guitar and Argos’ delivery almost civil. His lyrics meanwhile dismiss his broken relationship as “People in love lie around and get fat/I didn’t want us to end up like that”.

What Complicated does share with their previous record is an overarching cheekiness rooted in the immaturity of Argos’ character. However, where Bang Bang was happy to wallow in sneering boasts like “Got myself a brand new girlfriend”, Complicated has some realisation of the inadequacy and shortcomings of this lifestyle. This dilemma is addressed on ‘Nag Nag Nag’, where Argos considers “I’m grown up now but refuse to learn/That those were just adolescent concerns”. It’s supplemented by a restored urgency built from rising melodic guitar and welcome backing vocals causing it to be closer to power-pop than punk. Well, if not for Argos’ staccato delivery – but if there is one song that shows the Brut’s progression, it’s this.

So Art Brut have avoided the ‘second-album syndrome’ failure, and where they have toned down the brash, immediate fun of Bang Bang, they have exchanged it with a richer sound and more complex lyrics. Far from a one-album wonder, it’s still undeniable Art Brut, maybe just not ‘Art Brut’ anymore.