ART BRUT

Art Brut: Eddie Argos (vocals); Ian Catskilkin, Jasper Future (guitar); Freddy Feedback (bass guitar); Mike Breyer (drums).

Additional personnel: Tim Sanders (tenor saxophone); Roddy Lorimer (trumpet); Annie Whitehead (trombone); The Kick Horns (horns); John Moore (unknown instrument); Alice McCabe, Tayo Phillips, Emma Kalkhoven (background vocals).

Art Brut's 2005 debut BANG BANG ROCK & ROLL introduced the South London outfit's brand of bratty, conceptual art-punk. Ironic and arch, while also managing to rock with sincerity, Art Brut sounded like naive, irreverent school kids who were actually smarter than their teachers. It's not a shock that IT'S A BIT COMPLICATED, the 2007 follow-up, doesn't branch far into new territory: to "mature" and "develop" would be against the band's M.O.

Instead, the album delivers more clever, brainy fare suitable for both pogoing and chin-stroking. Singer Eddie Argos applies his wry, biting humor to such topics as break-ups, adolescence, and pop music itself in his Fall-ish half-sung, half-spoken drawl. Meanwhile, the band slams and shuffles behind him with amps cranked, offsetting Argos's ironic stance with a raucous glee and pop smarts. Listeners not charmed by Art Brut's overall concept the first time out (and they are, after all, a concept band) are unlikely to be converted, but fans of BANG BANG ROCK & ROLL should give IT'S A BIT COMPLICATED a well-considered spin.

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