Live Review: Art Brut at 9:30 Club [11.20.07]

Ladies and gentlemen, Eddie Argos has been drinking.

It’s evident from the moment he first sways onstage, clad in his Urban Cowboy via London checked shirt and standard-issue trousers, and confirmed by the man himself a little ways into the set when he cheerfully announces, “I’m a little bit drunk.” And so it is, under a giant screen helpfully displaying song titles, band nicknames, and the occasional lyric, that the inebriated Mr. Argos leads his band of merry men (and woman) through a comfortably rollicking 14-and-a-half song set. (More on that one-and-a-half song later.)

The Art Brut assault on DC begins with “Pump up the Volume,” the opening track from the band’s second album, It’s a Bit Complicated. It’s this song that sets the standard for Art Brut’s performance this particular night, which can be described thusly: geeky, cheeky, and a self-deprecatingly good time. In other words, it’s a standard-issue Art Brut gig.

And so, our tipsy front man fearlessly leads the charge on the stoic Washington masses, causing dozens of head to begin subtly bobbing along while he laments a makeout session ruined by the burning need to hear a song at an inopportune moment. Next on the docket is “Bang Bang Rock & Roll,” the first of many tracks from 2005’s irrepressible debut of the same name. Once the sprightly Velvet Underground bashing ends, Argos has a go at the assembled, teasing, “we’ve been Art Brut, goodnight,” before erupting into giggles while the band summarily launches into “I Will Survive.” While introducing “St. Pauli,” Argos explains that the song is about a little-known German soccer team. He then cracks, with a wide, toothy grin, “Why chart success eludes us, I have no idea.”

After the rambunctious “Modern Art” and “Rusted Guns of Milan,” a song about the “complete lack of sex,” the band fires up “My Little Brother.” And just in case the 9:30 Club patrons weren’t sure, the giant video screen politely tells us to “clap now” at appropriate moments. During a delightful version of “Emily Kane,” now amended to pay homage to all exes not just Miss Kane, Argos, clearly feeling even more nostalgic tonight than usual, throws in little bits and bobs from the Smiths’ “There is a Light that Never Goes Out.”

The lengthy set draws to a close with “Good Weekend,” which Argos informs us is “our biggest hit,” with chart success in Brazil and Portugal. Their chart-topper is turned into a combo platter (the aforementioned song-and-a-half), when halfway through, the band switches gears and begins “Formed a Band.” And then, after an extended end-of-song jam, the band are gone, the house lights come up, and I’m on my way out the door into the chilly DC evening, basking in the glow of another triumphant evening spent in the company of Art Brut.



[Photo courtesty of Art Brut's official website]