Staff Reviews

Art Brut - Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out!

Review by Robert Oliver

It’s a familiar box of tricks, but Art Brut sound as though they have renewed focus and energy»

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Here to remind us of our insatiable, adolescent appetite for music, Art Brut are back together. What started as a break-up album and turned into an ‘in-love record’, Wham! Bang! Pow! Let’s Rock Out! is a collection of post-punk, poppy bangers that recall the distinctive sound that burst out of the Berlin-based band back in 2005. It’s been seven years since the group’s last LP and sees Argos’ self-referential, sincere narrative shape into poignant reflections of encompassing a youthful heart in a world that perpetually forces us to grow up.

Produced by award-winning folk musician Jim Moray, Wham! Bang! Pow! Let’s Rock Out! is Art Brut at their pop band best. Argos recorded his vocals in one or two takes, channeling the sporadic nature of his live performances while hand claps and ad-libbed jokes and howls produce a raw and authentic work. Morphing almost any mundane experience into a hilariously candid anecdote – whether it’s watching hipsters eat falafel on Good Morning Berlin, planning a better diet after a health scare on Hospital! or dodging a train ticket inspector on Schwarzfahrer – Wham! Bang! Pow! Let’s Rock Out! is testament to the frontman’s unconventional approach to finding inspiration in just about anything.description from www.roughtrade.com