Fans of Bournemouth, England’s Art Brut adore its pop-punk sneering and snarking demigods, and we don’t blame them; frontman Eddie Argos has the angry wit of a young Joe Strummer. The band backing him up sounds as if it’s taking pages from the Clash, too, but with a bouncier feel -- no part of Art Brut takes itself too seriously. Still, the band is also famous for fighting and winning against record label EMI. The band wanted autonomy and control, and EMI wanted to put out new songs without the band’s say-so. The two are no longer an item. A new record, Art Brut vs. Satan, was produced by Frank Black, and has the delicious crushed-mirror quality you’d hope for -- sparkly and sharp. It also has a stellar single: “Alcoholics Unanimous” is the non-annoying “Tubthumping” of the new millennium.
Mon., June 15, 6 p.m., 2009
