It was interesting to read last year that Art Brut were working with Pixies man Frank Black on their third album. The Londoners are a band who have made two good-to-great albums, but with little variation or development between both, they were crucially lacking in diversity. Could Black be the person to bring some much-needed 'oomph' to their soundtrack? Sadly, not on this evidence - for someone of Black's stature and distinctive musical methods, his influence as a producer is basically imperceptible.
But it's not that Art Brut's music is bad by any stretch of the imagination - in fact, there are several tracks here with jerky riffs and catchy beats that will have you nodding your head, shaking your shoulders and shifting your feet ('Alcoholics Unanimous', 'Summer Job' and the funky standout 'Mysterious Bruises', which almost sounds like Hall & Oates redux) as efficiently as any other band would.
Their biggest selling point, however, has always been frontman Eddie Argos's tongue-in-cheek lyrics and his deadpan, Mark E. Smith-goes-to-Alton Towers style delivery of them. He's on flying form here, whether he's reminiscing about childhood pleasures ('DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshakes'), the joys of public transport ('The Passenger'), discovering a band who are "as old as [his] parents" ('The Replacements'), or denouncing U2 sound-alikes ('Slap Dash for No Cash').
Argos's rhyming couplets are more amusing than pretentious, and even though there's no single here that'll match 'Emily Kane' from their debut album (check it out), 'Art Brut vs. Satan' is as unique a British indie-rock album as you'll find in this current climate. It's not Art Brut's best, but it'll do just fine.
