When Eddie Argos of Art Brut Says It's a Bit Complicated - Get Ready

The opening track of this album "Pump Up the Volume" details a foray into an increasingly sexual encounter singer Eddie Argos has with someone in which he puts a halt to the proceedings to turn up a song. It's rather relevant, as most of these songs on this record may have you thinking about doing the same thing. The guitars provide the art-rock flare of the Dandy Warhols but Argos's vocals continue to prove to be the hook of Art Brut's newest album.

It may seem a bit poppy at some points, but all together, it's a toe-tapper. Play the game of "What was that lyric?" and you'll have these songs playing non-stop. Although not as highly rated as Bang, Bang, Rock & Roll, I belive "It's a Bit Complicated" is another work to be proud of.

Songs like the opener and the follow-up "Direct Hit" are the ones that received the most play times on their myspace page, but some of the songs like "Blame it on the Trains" and "Nag Nag Nag Nag" will stay in your head for hours and if you're (un)lucky, days. Some of the lines in the songs are absolutely intoxicating. "Learning lyrics from the CD inlay / To impress people with the stupid things I say..." Maybe you just have to hear the way the song goes, but the strangely well-placed sing-talk that Argos employs does a lot more to emphasize the emotional state they were written in than if he were to sing.

Honestly, though, there are certain parts of the album that may seem kind of repetitive at times. The song I Will Survive (not a cover of another song...) seems to me to be the weakest of the tracks. The guitars seem to be rather complex in the beginning, but by the 1:30 mark, I was already reaching for what the next track was. While they are rare and far apart, this is probably what made people rate this album a 4 instead of a 5. While it's not a 5 star record, it's still damn good at 4 1/2.

I'll be sure to mention how Art Brut does at Monolith after I see them this autumn. Watch for my review of the Flaming Lips and the Kings of Leon as well.