Listen Up! No. 95: Art Brut - Unprofessional Wrestling

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Art Brut records have an uncanny knack of seeming as instantly disposable as an Eddie Argos bon mot, while invariably leaving you feeling as warm and fuzzy as the red wine, cheap cigarettes and pitiful romanticism around which their world is framed. You miss them, dearly, like an old friend from school you never realised you had so much in common with.

Luckily, fans haven't had to wait too long - it's been less than two years since last record Art Brut Vs. Satan was released - and the early signs are that they've lost none of their doleful charm. This week they preface their fourth long-player, the aptly-titled Brilliant...Tragic (released 23 May on Cooking Vinyl) with free download 'Unprofessional Wrestling', another slice of buzz-saw guitars and bustling garage-rock. While Argos' self-deprecating lyrical radar may be familiar - here likening the act of physical romance to a round in the ring with an unforgiving opponent - his attempt at singing may not.

Introducing... EVERYBODY WAS IN THE FRENCH RESISTANCE...NOW!

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More highly recommended new and underground music from The Popscener.

Today's hotshots: Everybody was in the French Resistance...Now!

Any work featuring the considerable talents of Art Brut's Eddie Argos - the indie Stephen Fry - has a better than average chance of tickling the ribs whilst stimulating the ears, and this new side-project, imaginatively entitled Everybody was in the French Resistance...Now! doesn't disappoint. This effort is less garage rock and more baroque pop, and may feature the lumbering frontman's most energetic vocal yet, whilst losing none of his usual acerbic wordplay and dry charm. All of which would have made a late charge for the TOTP appearance Argos so craves a possibility had the show not been defunct for almost four years...oh well.

Try: G.I.R.L.F.R.E.N.

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