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BANG BANG ROCK AND ROLL
FIERCE PANDA
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London scenesters oft mentioned with the buzzed-about Magic Numbers and Duke Spirit, Art Brut are unusual in having singer Eddie Argos vocalize in what appears to be a different key from the rest of the band. He’s adept at the fey stance — that ironic, "behold my vocal weirdness" quality British singers from Jarvis Cocker to Hatful of Hollow–era Morrissey have deployed so well — but his vulnerability betrays a certain vitriol, all under the guise of cheek. "And yes, this is my singing voice/It’s not irony, it’s not rock and roll . . . we’re just talking . . . to the kids" is one of his better lines; circus rhythms, and dynamic stops and starts, add to the drama. Argos’s is a world of grand declarations, his emotions crashing down amid poetic observations about little things like a cracked record-jacket spine or a beleaguered glance at a clock. "Formed a Band" is the pounding, proud, declaration of having it large; "Emily Kane" is Ray Davies’s "Waterloo Sunset" squatter on a reflective stroll down to the playground.
