Art Brut dares Los Angeles to party and think

June 19, 2009, at the Echo

By Melissa Bobbitt
Published: June 23rd, 2009 | 2:00am

“Look at how much fun we’re having!” exclaimed Eddie Argos, his hair tussled and his black shirt/blue jeans ensemble dripping with sweat. As he played the role of Captain Obvious, his band Art Brut beamed behind him — the jovial misfits who fight for truth, justice, and the universal ways of rocknroll. For four nights at the nearby Spaceland and here at the Echo, they were the Supermen of the Los Angeles music scene. Though at the surface a party band, with scholarly aplomb they derided many aspects of the culture that go unchallenged in the brittle bohemia of Echo Park. Argos, a daffy Brit who looks more like one’s cuddly big brother than a burgeoning underground hero, has such a blasé disdain for the status quo that one left the concert feeling not only musically satisfied but socially modified as well.

The name itself, Art Brut, is an homage to a European aesthetic movement of “outsider art” such as that done by insane asylum patients. Apropos then in the fiery closer, “Slap Dash for No Cash,” off this year’s Art Brut vs. Satan (Downtown), Argos grumbled about U2 wannabes and how ludicrous mainstream lyrics really are. “My sex is on fire,” he intoned with boredom. “Are we human, or are we dancer?” One couldn’t help but laugh, mostly because Argos was right in his assessment.

Which is not to say the gig was a mope fest. If anything, it was a revitalizing romp. Guitarist Jasper Future managed to keep his mouth agape and eyes bugging cheekily the whole show. Bassist Freddy Feedback ebulliently sang all the words, though she didn’t have a mic. Drummer Mikey Breyer, clad in tight Bermuda shorts, hammered at his instrument in a standing position. Lead guitarist Ian Catskilskin, himself in peril’s way time and again when Future would crouch under him, kept his ax’s neck just a smidge away from his crotch. If that doesn’t embody how dangerous rock music should be, I don’t know what does.

Creating a sense of belonging was an imperative here. Argos mulled about in the crowd twice, with a conversational approach that was half Bert from “Mary Poppins,” half Joe Strummer. He told the audience, “You know, the rest of the nation really hates you,” but urged the Angelenos to shrug it off because the other metropolises were just jealous. The band rattled off two paeans to the City of Angels, including “Moving to L.A.,” a mid-tempo track off 2006’s Bang Bang Rock and Roll (Fierce Panda). Argos also became one of the only people in history to laud the county’s public transit system and told of his pleasant day in Pasadena via light rail before launching into the song, “The Passenger.”

It was such a friendly, communal show. In addition to Argos’ affability, Nathaniel Fregoso of openers The Blood Arm anointed those in the front row with taps on the head or unprompted smooches. (One man’s reaction to such was a deer-in-the-headlights astonishment.) The nimble Fregoso also traipsed atop the Echo’s bar and did a formidable Mick Jagger impression while he careened through catchy dance rock songs. It was a night of unabashed fun, and what’s more punk than that?

For more photos from this show visit Venus Zine’s Flickr page

Art Brut official site

Art Brut MySpace page

Downtown Music