Art Brut vs. Satan

On the eve of their five night stand at NYC's finest venue The Mercury Lounge, it seems apropos to enlighten you all about the wonder that is their new record. Called Art Brut vs. Satan, this little chestnut should do yeoman duty in casting the devil out of all discriminating people's lives. If that's their intention, of course. I ended up having drinks with Eddie and the rest of the kids after a couple of the dates on NME tour with The Hold Steady and it is very likely that Art Brut is of a mind to take the horned guys slot.

If there's a hell below, we're all gonna go and Art Brut might well be the house band. Lucky for us, as I might just be able to listen to Art Brut vs. Satan for all eternity. Much has been made of Frank Black producing the record. The record sounds good, but don't think you're going to get Pixies Mach II or anything. That's not an Art Brut diss, moreso a commentary on the cash-in that is the Pixies reunion. Judging by the rampant sales of the Grand Duchy record, I'd say that the reunion hasn't fostered a huge amount of love for the new material. Why not think forward for once and pick up a record that isn't a retread. There isn't a bad song here, and everything is clear and crisp. If you didn't like Eddie Argos' Craig Finn meets Ian Dury vocals before, you probably are not going to be swayed now, but there are a gang of other reasons to like Art Brut vs. Satan. Even the unexpected closing cover of The Cure didn't kill it for me, and that's saying something.

Like I said, Art Brut will be playing Mercury all week, so if you have ears (and plugs to put in them) you would do well to go on down and check them out. Pick up a copy of Art Brut vs. Satan here and keep track of their ungodly ways via this handy link.

R