Pitchfork

You have to hand it to Art Brut. Even those of us who loved that first album thought the gleefully sardonic British bashers were good for just one album of riffs and jokes, that their slapdash energy wouldn't translate to a full career. But now they're three albums deep and to the point where they can recruit Frank Black as their producer. That's what they did for Art Brut Vs. Satan, their forthcoming third LP. And now the album has cover art and a release date.

Eddie Argos, the band's always gregarious frontman, revealed the above cover art on his blog yesterday. The cover comes from comic book artist Jeff Lemire, the man behind the Essex County graphic novel trilogy. Considering that Argos has already gone on record rhapsodizing about Essex County, he is understandably amped about this.

Art Brut Vs. Satan will be out in Europe April 20 on Cooking Vinyl. Those of us in North America will have to wait until May 12, when Downtown Records will release it. It will be proceeded by the single for "Alcoholics Unanimous", out April 6 in the UK.

Argos calls the recording process "punk-as-fuck" and describes it thusly: "We spent a day getting the sound of the instruments perfect, then with all of us in the same room at the same time, with the amazing Black Francis conducting us, we pressed record, jumped around and played our songs."

Talking to Pitchfork last year, Argos revealed that the album would include an eight-minute song, which should be ridiculous. Black, speaking as vaguely as he possibly could, said that several of the songs are "I don't know, important-sounding."

In the meantime, the band has a ton of European shows coming up:
Art Brut Vs. Satan:

01 Alcoholics Unanimous
02 DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake
03 The Passenger
04 Am I Normal?
05 What a Rush.
06 Demons Out!
07 Slap Dash for No Cash
08 The Replacements
09 Twist and Shout
10 Summer Job
11 Mysterious Bruises

Dates:

03-19 Sheffield, Ennglad - Fuzz Club (Sheffield University Union)
04-26 Poole, England - Mr. Kyp's
04-27 Manchester, England - Academy 3
04-28 Birmingham, England - Academy 2
04-29 Newcastle, England - Other Rooms
04-30 York, England - Duchess
05-01 Leeds, England - Cockpit
05-02 Glasgow, Scotland - Stereo
05-04 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms
05-05 Bristol, England - Thekla
05-06 Brighton, England - Concorde 2
05-07 London, England - Electric Ballroom
05-08 Brussels, Belgium - Rotonde / Botanique
05-10 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
05-12 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
05-13 Hamburg, Germany - Knust
05-14 Cologne, Germany - Luxor
05-15 Berlin, Germany - Lido
05-17 Stuttgart, Germany - Schoken
05-18 Munich, Germany - Backstage
05-20 Vienna, Austria - Flex
05-21 Milan, Italy - Magnolia
05-22 Zurich, Switzerland - Rote Fabrik
05-23 Berne, Switzerland - Dampfzentrale
05-25 Paris, France - Nouveau Casino