art brut - it's a bit complicated

So far, Maximo Park have released a pretty average guitar pop affair, The Cribs have been singing an awful lot about ‘Men’s Needs’ (and not much else to comment on really), and the Kaiser Chiefs have been summing up what we all think of the return of the Indie Boy revolution. But perhaps Art Brut, armed with Eddie Argos’s banter (that recalls a less melodic but slightly wittier Jarvis Cocker) – can prove that not quite everything is “average nowadays”. They certainly get off to a fabulous start. ‘Pump Up the Volume’ eases us in with some bemusing harmonies before launching a gloriously triumphant guitar riff upon its unsuspecting listeners. Once again, Argos goes all out to share his most intimate anecdotes with his fans, with the songs very much acting as a musical journal for him – a journey that us nosy upstarts quite willingly embrace. ‘Pump Up the Volume’ is Argos’s innocent plea that he’d rather listen to a ‘bangin’ toon’ on the radio than get off with the girl on his bed (“I know I shouldn’t / Is it so wrong? / To break from your kiss / to turn up a pop song?”). New single ‘Direct Hit’ is an upbeat pop affair with far better ‘woowoos’ than any Klaxons song can muster - and more zest than a particularly delicious lemon. Although it’s possibly not as rambunctious as ‘Emily Kane’, or as classic as ‘Formed a Band’, it’ll do the job of luring in any Fratelli-loving indie karaoke star to sing along. From here on, there’s a slight intermission in the Art Brut circus. ‘St Pauli’ tends to wash over you with a repetitive chorus that stops and starts without really taking you into any stratosphere you’d hope to be taken to. Meanwhile, ‘I Will Survive’ (thankfully not a Gloria Gaynor cover), tends to follow along the lines of Argos’s lyrics; “It depends on what you make it / but I’ve made mine a mess”. But then all is well again, as the Art Brut sentimentality returns with ‘People in Love’ and ‘Late Sunday Evening’ – both tuneful little numbers that chug along quite nicely against Argos’s lyrics, which set new heights of comic observation; “People in love lie around and get fat / I didn’t want us to end up like that”. To top it off, ‘Post Soothing Out’ is surely second single territory, with its glorious chorus acting almost as an anti-anthem. “Every day is just like starting over / We try so hard but we keep on falling over.” Art Brut have delivered a set of songs that, in most cases, are just as catchy and melodic as anything on ‘Bang Bang Rock n Roll’, and yes – Argos is still an amusing enough man to guide the slightly less exciting songs through with his witty annotations. However, there haven’t been any musical barriers broken, let alone any significant changes from their first album’s achievements. Perhaps this is just the Art Brut way - give the girls something to dance to and give the men some lyrics they’ll silently relate to. Either way, ‘It’s a Bit Complicated’ is not quite as complicated as you’d perhaps like it to be.