Vocalist Eddie Argos (an ex-goth obsessed with Jonathan Richman and Vincent Van Gogh) had previously been in a band, The Art Goblins, in his hometown of Bournemouth. Their stage show would see him “playing a vacuum cleaner” and escaping from a sack. They sounded not unlike cult Glaswegians The Yummy Fur and had songs such as I Wanna Be Johnny Dean and Disco.
Another ‘project’ was The Welsh Elephant, who penned the should-be-classic Fuck The MSP (which contains the catchy refrain “Nicky Wire can suck my cock!”). Having moved to London and determined to be in another band, Argos found himself at a party in Mornington Crescent and set about hassling everyone there to join him. A webzine-editor and guitarist called Chris Chinchilla (a ska fanatic) thought this sounded like a good idea – after all, it was a good way to impress girls. Argos was more concerned about getting on ‘Top Of The Pops’. Chinchilla talked his German flatmate Freiderike Feedback (grunge fan) into playing bass, and thus they got a bass guitar for her off eBay. Argos had a friend from Bournemouth who’d also just moved to London. Ian Catskilkin (thinks he’s in Led Zeppelin, but with better hair) used to be in a heavy rock band called Orco and he agreed to join the new band. Another friend then overheard a German man (who NME would later say looks like “he should be in Interpol”) on a bus telling someone how he played drums and worked in Merc, the shop on Carnaby Street selling cut-price mod clothing. Determined to hunt him down, Argos and Chinchilla went to the shop. He wasn’t working that day, so they left him a note. Mikey Breyer (listens to nothing but Weezer) would then join the band, and that was it – May 2003, Art Brut was born.
Much like Bloc Party, Art Brut’s first gig was an independently promoted show at the Kentish Town Verge. Chinchilla had booked it before the band was ready, at which there was much complaining by his fellow bandmates. Mike’s drumkit had yet to be imported, so he played sitting down (he usually stands up to play). After a number of other gigs round London they recorded a demo named Brutlegs, containing early versions of Formed A Band, Modern Art and Moving To LA, and made it available on their website. Formed A Band first saw the light of day on the debut Angular Records compilation album. After a journalist came across this recording, he sent an MP3 to the label Rough Trade. Within an hour of getting it, the label’s A&R man was in touch offering to release Formed A Band as a single.
Suddenly the band were all over the music press, picking up fans and haters with ease. Many people expected it to be nothing more than a one-off novelty single. They played a triumphant Swedish festival where a guy interviewed them and got confused, thought they were from Manchester (and had all his questions based around the city), and compared them to The Sultans Of Ping. They were also offered the main tour support for Razorlight but had to turn it down due to lack of funds.
Formed A Band was released as a single at the end of March 2004. A gleeful call to arms of sorts, Argos shouts “formed a band! We formed a band! Look at us, we formed a band!” before going on to proclaim how he’s going to “write a song as universal as Happy Birthday” and “play it eight weeks in a row on ‘Top Of The Pops’”. It reached No. 52, selling 5,000 copies, and cropped up in many end-of-year polls as the one of the best singles of the year, including ‘Blender’ – the USA’s second biggest music mag after ‘Rolling Stone’ - who proclaimed them the best unsigned band in the UK.
The rest of 2004 saw them playing numerous gigs from Brighton to Manchester, as well as a first anniversary show at the Tate Modern where they were joined by a couple of a Argos’ heroes – The Vessel (David Devant and His Spirit Wife) and Les ‘Fruitbat’ Carter (Carter USM). As a stop-gap between singles, they offered the new, shaky Brutlegs 2004, this time containing versions of Good Weekend (the one that goes “got myself a brand new girlfriend… I’ve seen her naked TWICE!”), Bang Bang Rock And Roll and an acoustic version of Moving To LA.
The frenzied Top Of The Pops (not a Rezillos cover) was recorded with a number of bands guesting on vocals (including Ciccone, The Boyfriends, The Long Blondes, Abdoujaparov, Prozak, Rhesus and Luxembourg) for inclusion on the Angular Records compilation Rip Off Your Labels, while Moving To LA saw yet another recorded appearance, this time in live form from the Bath Moles on the compilation Bring Your Own Poison: The Rhythm Factory Sessions.
In December ’04, their second single finally saw the light. A double A-side of Modern Art and My Little Brother (with B-side These Animal Menswe@r), it was released on the Fierce Panda label and reached No. 49 – scoring the band a bigger hit than before and, perhaps surprisingly, the highest chart position Fierce Panda has ever had. All the sleeves of the 7” were hand-designed by the band and fans, including one messy session at a Queens Of Noize night at Camden Barfly which ended with the stage (and crowd) being covered in fluorescent pink paint.
The start of 2005 sees them having completed their debut album, pencilled in for release in March, and having picked up even more fans including Graham Coxon, British Sea Power, The Libertines, Hope Of The States and genius boy wizard Daniel Radcliffe. Even the Happy Mondays’ Bez has tried to get onstage at one point with them at the Barfly but was so wasted at the time he didn’t manage it, despite Catskilkin’s attempts at pulling him by his arm.
Sadly, they’ve yet to appear on ‘Top Of The Pops’. Perhaps ‘CD:UK’ will be more accommodating. It’s better, anyway.
In Late August 2005 Chris Chinchilla decided to leave the band for personal reasons and was replaced by former Art Goblin, Jasper Future.
Art Brut performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, on April 30, 2006, at Pitchfork Music Festival in June 2006, and at the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim and the Dour Festival in Belgium, in July 2006 and are due to headline the Two Thousand Trees Festival in July 2008. Art Brut also released a split 7" with We Are Scientists, which was only released in America. We Are Scientists returned the idea and covered Art Brut's song 'Bang Bang Rock & Roll' on the single. Their version of "Bang Bang Rock & Roll" is also available on their b-sides album Crap Attack.
The band released their second album, It's a Bit Complicated, on Mute Records produced by Dan Swift , who has also worked with artists such as Help She Can't Swim, Victorian English Gentlemens Club, Kasabian and Snow Patrol. The first single to be taken from the album, "Nag Nag Nag Nag", was released on 20 November 2006, featuring the b-side "I Found This Song in the Road" and 5 live tracks from the Eurockéennes de Belfort Festival 2006. The song made Single of the Week in The Guardian's "The Guide" section. In 2007 they played on the American NME Rock and Roll Riot tour with The Hold Steady. In the United States, the album reached #14 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and #32 on the Independent Albums chart.
On 1 March 2008 Argos revealed on his blog that Art Brut have amicably left EMI. In August 2008 Eddie Argos announced on his blog that the band have been recording songs for the third album. In late 2008 Art Brut returned to the studio to record their third LP Art Brut vs. Satan which was released on April 20th 2009. The album was produced by Frank Black formerly of the Pixies.
In September 2013 the band announced that long serving members Mikey Breyer and Jasper Future were retiring to be replaced with Toby Macfarlaine (guitar) and Stephen Gilchrist (drums).
2) Art Brut is a freejazz and improvisation group
Art Brut is:
Frank Wilke – trumpet
André D. – bass
Vasco Ribeiro Morais – percussions, voices
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Art_Brut/art_brut/
André D. on Souncloud: http://soundcloud.com/darius-improvise/tracks?format=html&page=1
Other review: http://dariusimprovise.blogspot.fr/2013/06/art-brut.html
Alcoholics Unanimous
Art Brut Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A bit concerned about what I've been up to
There's so many people I might have upset
I apologise to them all with the same pretext
Bring me tea!
Bring me coffee!
(He's been up all night)
I've been making mistakes
(Lots of mistakes)
I'm hiding it well
(Not very well)
But I don't feel great
I've been up all night
(He's been up all night)
I've been making mistakes
(Lots of mistakes)
I'm hiding it well
(Not very well)
But I don't feel great
I'm trying to deal with it quietly
But something's gone very wrong with me
I don't know how long I can keep it hid
I'm having trouble forming sentences
Bring me tea!
(That looks like it really hurts)
Bring me coffee!
(Should have taken the day off work)
I've been up all night
(He's been up all night)
I've been making mistakes
(Lots of mistakes)
I'm hiding it well
(Not very well)
But I don't feel great
I've been up all night
(He's been up all night)
I've been making mistakes
(Lots of mistakes)
I'm hiding it well
(Not very well)
But I don't feel great
(Last night we tried to warn him)
Took me ages to get dressed this morning
I've been up all night
(He's been up all night)
I've been making mistakes
(Lots of mistakes)
I'm hiding it well
(Not very well)
But I don't feel great
I've been up all night
(We tried to warn him)
I've been making mistakes
(It's bad in the morning)
I'm hidI've been up all night
(We tried to warn him)
I've been making mistakes
(It's bad in the morning)
Bring me tea!
(That looks like it really hurts)
Bring me coffee!
(Should have taken the day off work)
Bring me tea!
(Monday morning)
Bring me coffee!
(Tuesday morning)
Bring me tea!
(Wednesday morning etcetera)
The lyrics to Art Brut's song Alcoholics Unanimous describe the aftermath of a night of heavy drinking. The singer admits to waking up confused and concerned about the people they may have upset while intoxicated. Despite apologizing, the singer is still coping with the consequences of their actions, hiding their mistakes but not feeling great about it. The chorus, demanding tea and coffee, reflects the need for caffeine to function after a night of drinking, but also the lack of control the singer has over their own behavior.
The line "I'm having trouble forming sentences" is particularly poignant, as it highlights the loss of control and the adverse effects of alcohol on the brain. The singer is trying to deal with their problem quietly, but their addiction is getting worse over time. The repetition of the lines "I've been up all night" and "I've been making mistakes" hints at a cycle of dependency and guilt that many people struggling with addiction may relate to. The song captures the essence of the struggle of addiction and its impact on daily life.
Line by Line Meaning
Slept on my face, and woke up confused
I woke up with an aching face and I'm confused about what happened last night
A bit concerned about what I've been up to
I am worried about my actions from the previous night
There's so many people I might have upset
I am concerned that I may have offended many people last night
I apologise to them all with the same pretext
I am using the same excuse to apologize to everyone I may have wronged
Bring me tea!
I need to drink tea to help me feel better
Bring me coffee!
I need to drink coffee to help me feel better
I was up all night
I did not sleep at all the previous night
I've been making mistakes
I made many mistakes last night
I'm hiding it well
I am trying to act like nothing is wrong but it is not working well
But I don't feel great
I am not feeling good despite my attempts to hide my issues
I'm trying to deal with it quietly
I am trying to handle the situation without attracting too much attention
But something's gone very wrong with me
Something is seriously wrong with me and I don't know how to properly handle it
I don't know how long I can keep it hid
I am unsure how much longer I can keep my issues hidden from others
I'm having trouble forming sentences
I am struggling to speak properly or communicate effectively
That looks like it really hurts
I can see that you are in pain and it concerns me
Should have taken the day off work
I should have taken the day off to recover from last night's issues
Took me ages to get dressed this morning
It took me a long time to get ready this morning as I am not feeling well
It's bad in the morning
I feel the worst in the morning after a night of mistakes and bad decisions
Monday morning
I need tea and coffee to make it through the start of the week
Tuesday morning
I need tea and coffee to make it through the second day of the week
Wednesday morning etcetera
I need tea and coffee to make it through the rest of the week
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: EDDIE ARGOS, FRIEDERIKE SIEPE, IAN WILSON, JASPER FULCHER, MIKE BREYER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Gabbie
goodo