Art Brut Vs. Satan (MCT Campus)

Everything about “Art Brut Vs. Satan” is punctuated with exclamation points, from the busy post-punk guitar work to the lyrics. “Bring me coffee! Bring me tea! We’ve been up all night!” lead singer Eddie Argos wails along on the opening track, “Alcoholics Unanimous.” The album is a fun, raucous outing with the English/German band, but one that is ultimately forgettable.

Although the band is to be commended for breaking out of the traditional themes of rock music (lost love, loneliness, longing) by instead singing about “DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshakes” or convoluted bus trips and general ennui, the lyrical content of the album isn’t always as clever as the band would like to hope that it is. Like a bad comedy, when the jokes fall flat, there’s nothing really for the lyrics to fall back on.

Also peculiar are the band’s discussions of the music industry and their British rock predecessors in songs about The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Brian Eno, The Replacements and U2 (“Why is everyone trying to sound like U2?/ It’s not a very cool thing to do.”) Perhaps it would be in Art Brut’s best interest not to remind their listeners of these revolutionary bands within a generally mediocre album.

Perhaps the lyrics wouldn’t sound so foolish if they weren’t delivered in sprechsang (that non-rap spoken singing like the guy from the B-52s). Additionally, the subpar mixing places such a premium on the vocals that actual instrumental music is frequently drowned out, which is a shame because guitarist Ian Catskilkin and the rest of the band are toe-tappers.

Check out Catskilkin’s ripping solo on “Demons Out!” for proof. You won’t hear that kind of old-fashioned shredding on a Franz Ferdinand album. Unfortunately, you could listen to the track and not even pick up on his excellent guitar work, or any of the other great post-punk/art wave performances because the inane vocals have been turned up to 11 while Argos yells over and over, “The record buying public! We hate them!/ This is Art Brut! Versus Satan!”

Oh Art Brut, you’re so ironic, I love you and I can’t help myself. Look, I can do irony too. But Art Brut deserves their dues too. The band is great for singing along, and all the music will make you want to move. It’s just that the musicians are confined to playing backups to lyrics that are just, in a word, dumb. Maybe on another album Art Brut will rein in the vocals and give their musicians, the real artists, a longer leash and more complementary production. Until then, “Art Brut Vs. Satan” is the kind of album that doesn’t really deserve being listened to more than one or two songs at a time.