I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: ART BRUT-It’s a Bit Complicated (2007).

Art Brut is a really great punky band from England. Their first album contained two great singles: “Formed a Band” and “My Little Brother.” The premise of the band is that they play fast but melodic songs–they’re punk, but not thrash, and the songs are crisp. But the really unique aspect is the singer, Eddie Argos, who basically talks rather than sings, in his strong London accent. In fact, in “Formed a Band” he states: “And yes, this is my singing voice; It’s not irony; And it’s not rock and roll; I’m just talking; To the kids.”

This sets the stage for the rest of that album and this, the successor. Now, a band like this is stuck with two options: continue with this style of speaking/singing and possibly become a novelty or move on to a new style, thereby belying the lyrics from their manifesto. They chose option one. And the good news is that, while not making a better album that the first one–which is pretty fantastic–they come up with a slightly more mature album, which is still pretty great.

When your style of music is almost a gimmick, it’s not easy to get past that. The first two or three times you listen to the record, you are totally sucked in by Argos talking to you. Sometimes he’s yelling, sometimes he’s almost singing, and most of the time he’s being cockily self-deprecating (how you do that, I’m not sure). And you start to think of the band as little more than a spoken word record with backing music. Until you start to listen to the music. Then you gain a fuller appreciation for the band. The musicians are all top notch, playing rhythmic and catchy punk. Some songs have great chugga chugga riffs, others have really catchy guitar soloing type riffs, and all the time, the songs maintain a verse/chorus structure that keeps the songs from being simply rants set to music.

The album is fast and furious. The songs are funny without being twee, or tiring themselves out. The closest band I could compare them to is King Missile. Those of you who remember “Detachable Penis” from the 90s know King Missile. They were, to most, a novelty band with one hit. But to fans, they were a great band who played fantastic music behind the clever lyrics of John S. Hall. King Missile was not punk in the 2000’s sense of punk, but they were certainly punk in spirit; plus they had a number of different styles. Throughout their albums, Hall’s vocal style was rather laconic, and that had an impact on the tone of the band. By contrast Art Brut are more brash, more crazy, more energetic.

An interesting thing to me is that there’s a song about recording vinyl records onto cassettes. I just can’t imagine that the band is old enough to have known about vinyl and cassettes much less to have written an ode to it.

Regardless, the overall record is great and very satisfying. It’s always encouraging when a band follows up a great first record with a great second one. I’m holding up high hopes for these guys on their next one.

[READ: April 21, 2008] Mike Nelson’s Death Rat.

Obviously, I bought this book because Mike Nelson was on Mystery Science Theater 3000. I had no idea that he had written a novel. And, when I saw that he did, I knew I’d have to read it. When it came in the mail I was a bit put off by the cover (and the title) which is very trashy/horror/pulpy. In a case of the cover not representing the book at all, this novel is nothing of the sort. The book is very very funny. And Nelson’s writing style is really quite strong.

The book centers around the wonderfully named Pontius Feeb. Feeb is an academic historian. He has written a dozen or so books and sold about 100 copies total. Feeb is also an utterly neurotic mess.

As the story opens, Feeb is laid off from the publishing house where his books have been published. The laying off is public and humiliating and sends him on a downward spiral that results in the loss of his apartment, his driver’s license and his dignity. He moves in with some college students and decides to write a popular bestselling novel–like the ones that local celebrity author Gus Bromstad writes. He comes upon the title Death Rat! and then holes himself up in the attic to write it.

Once he has written his opus he tries to get it published but is basically told he physically doesn’t live up to the image of an adventure writer. So, Ponty finds a surrogate…a big hulking man to fill in for him as the “author.” This works fine until somehow it is leaked that Death Rat! is a true story. As the book’s sales rise, interest in the location of the death rat’s appearance (the town of Holey, MN, population 38) becomes inundated by the media, jealous authors, and the inevitable concert event.

Nelson creates some good strong characters in the book. Feeb is a wonderfully neurotic character. Bromstad is a blowhard author who never removes his trademark hat, even in the sauna. The Danish Cultural Institute (Den Dansk Institut) includes five men, all of whom look like brothers although they are unrelated, who seek to preserve all that is good and proper about Danish society in morally suspect America. (Their attempts to blend into small town America are very funny indeed). And, of course, Minnesota’s governor. It occurred to me that this character is based on Jesse “The Body” Ventura, Minnesota’s own governor, but really it could be any blowhard authority figure. And the introduction, somewhat late in the story, of King Leo, a punk/funk superstar who writes obscenely dirty songs, lives in a mansion that is all pink, and dresses in basically women’s clothes is a thinly veiled dig at Minnesota’s most famous diminutive pop star. Although, he plays up Leo’s idiosyncrasies so much that it’s clear that no harm is meant.

Nelson plays light with most of the mockery…he is never explicitly hurtful to anyone, nor does he use any bad language. It’s a very PG-13 type of book…what you might expect from the head writer of MST3K. And, if you’re a fan of MST3K, you’ll see some of Nelson’s favorite tropes pop up….wedgies, male insecurity around other men, insecurities in general, and a good healthy dose of Minnesota.

Nelson is a very articulate writer and the story moves along at a brisk pace. I enjoyed everything in the story. The character of Pontius is very well written, and his neuroses are pretty darn funny. The mocking of small town Minnesota is also very funny. It’s clear that Nelson loves poking fun at the big-rugged-manly- exterior stereotype that you might imagine rugged Minnesota men having. King Leo’s absurdly feminine persona leads all of the rugged men into nervousness whenever he is near…although most are too polite to say anything.

All of the characters are made to feel uncomfortable…a trait that Nelson seems almost too good at exploiting. And all of the uncomfortableness leads to really funny situations. The resolution of the book is pretty swift, but it ends not with any kind of “and they all lived happily ever after” but with each character having some options for moving on to a better situation…if they ever get off their duff to do it.

If you like MST3K, you won’t be disappointed. If you live in Minnesota, I think you’ll enjoy it, and if you’ve ever wanted to write a novel while disguised as somebody else, then this book is just for you! Incidentally, the Death Rat never makes an appearance, so don’t be afraid.

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