Aretha Franklin to Autograph

Aretha Franklin - "Respect"
Can we hear so many inferior versions of this that we forget how remarkable it truly is?



Nah.

Art Brut
This is the type of band that is harder to get into than, say Animal Collective. Those guys just make weird sounds. Art Brut, however, appeals to a narrow audience with thorough knowledge of old alt-rock lyrics. If you don't get outsider art jokes or puns like "Cool your warm jets/Brian Eno," then proceed at your own risk.

Your typical Art Brut song has the literary depth of a 15-year-old's Twitter feed. The following is a random sampling of Art Brut lyrics, all delivered at the same level of enthusiasm in Eddie Argos's speak-singing voice. The man is easily excited:

"I love public transportation!"
"Modern art makes me want to rock out!"
"I'm considering a move to L.A.!"
"I can't believe I've only just discovered The Replacements!"
"I've seen her naked...twice!"

Argos's geeky sincerity is ingratiating and strategic. He seems to find the act of singing pretentious and admits it upfront on "Formed A Band" - "And yes/This is my singing voice/It's not irony/It's not rock 'n roll"



But for all their anti-intellectual posturing ("I can't stand the sound/Of The Velvet Underground" insists "Bang Bang Rock & Roll"), Art Brut are secret deconstructionist pranksters. Their 2006 debut Bang Bang Rock & Roll pokes fun at the banality of garage rock prematurely couched in the packaging of a Penguin Classic.

2009's Art Brut vs. Satan extends this theme, exploiting punk rock detachment to talk about tremendously dorky things. Most bands aren't likely to express an arrested development complex with a song called "DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake." Likewise, the conundrum of secondhand records (cheaper!) versus reissued CDs (extra tracks!) has never been expressed as poetically as it is on "The Replacements."



Art Brut's second album, It's A Bit Complicated, is comparatively somber. All of their music leaves the impression that Argos is slightly ashamed of being smart, but Complicated is thoroughly frank about the mistakes and heartbreak that even he can't avoid. Though Satan also has a dark streak, Art Brut doesn't get more crushing than "Post Soothing Out."



Asia - "Heat of the Moment"
Autograph - "Turn Up the Radio"
A deliciously overwrought prog-rock ballad, "Heat of the Moment" has a secure place in the pop culture pantheon. It is the perfect amount of '80s - catchy, but you can laugh at it. And think cocaine wasn't pervasive back then? Look at this: it's an Asia video, for crying out loud!

Kenny Dies
Tags: SOUTH
PARKmore...

"Turn Up the Radio," on the other hand, is too '80s, a bland Def Leppard ripoff reminding us that "things go better with rock."



Interestingly, Autograph frontman Steve Plunkett has built a fruitful post-glam career as a songwriter and producer of original songs for television shows. Nothing says "living the dream" like going from touring with Van Halen to writing and performing the theme to 7th Heaven.