Pitchfork

Hungry for the scoop on Art Brut's nearly-complete sophomore LP, Pitchfork recently phoned up ever-excitable Eddie Argos for a chat. In typically charismatic fashion, the declamatory vocalist regaled us with tales of facial hair, his perfectionist ways, and all those juicy album details.

First up, the album. The follow-up to Pitchfork's third favorite LP of 2005, Bang Bang Rock & Roll. The dread sophomore LP. "Well it's very nearly finished," reported Argos. "It's being mastered on Thursday. But they've left it a little bit open; I'm quite a perfectionist. I wake up and go, 'I need to change those words' all the time."

Indeed, difficultly with decisions is a topic Argos returns to often. One gets the impression that if everything were left completely to him, no Art Brut song would ever reach completion. "I'm obsessive," Eddie continued, "so I can't ever stop thinking about things. I should be saying it's finished. It is finished. I try to keep it open-ended because I like fiddling around with it."

At least one thing's pretty much set, and that's the title: It's a Bit Complicated. Explained Argos, half in jest, "It's not as straight-ahead as the first one. I don't know, I found it a bit complicated when I was writing it? [Laughs] It's all about ex-girlfriends and whatnot again, innit? And those issues are a bit complicated. It's vaguely more complicated than the last one."

Also, "it sounds nice as a title."

It's a Bit Complicated, nice title and all, should hit shops in June, with a single-- likely "Direct Hit", which the band showcased in nascent form at last year's Pitchfork Music Festival-- preceding in May. Don't expect the recorded version of "Direct Hit" to match your bootleg, however. "It's all changed," said Argos. "There was a different verse when I sung it at Pitchfork. I kept changing my mind-- I'm a nightmare-- I kept changing my mind about what it was about. So, it's just a boy-meets-girl song now, which is nice."

Art Brut's new UK home Mute will deliver the LP in the band's home country, while Downtown Records-- which gave Bang Bang a Stateside release just last year-- will serve up Complicated in the U.S. Mainland. Europeans should look to Labels for the release, while Australians can score it through Shock Records.

Dan Swift produced, and while Swift has done some engineering work for Snow Patrol and Kasabian, Argos wants to make the record clear: "People keep telling me they're really scared-- 'You don't sound like Kasabian now do you?' [Laughs] 'No, no we don't.'

"Not that I'm against Kasabian," Eddie was quick to add. "I'm just saying we don't sound like them."

Indeed, Eddie and band gravitated to Swift for entirely different reasons. He was fond of Swift's work with UK up-and-comers Help She Can't Swim and Untitled Musical Project. Additionally, "the original version of 'Robot' by the Futureheads-- not the full outfit version, but the thing that came out before the album-- he produced that, and I love it. It's my favorite Futureheads song. All of that kind of made me go, 'Ah, he's brilliant.'"

As for surprises, Argos is reluctant to reveal too many of Complicated's-- "because that would ruin it," after all-- but he did share a couple. "We had a horn section, and there's a friend [who] played the saw for a couple of songs. It's good."

The band also conjured up a few more tunes for this album than for their debut, which was essentially a document of all of Art Brut's material to date at the time. "What we did [for Complicated]," said Argos, "we wrote about 15 songs. We kept some for B-sides and whatnot, and it's good, but when we release our anthology, like the Beatles did, there [will be] no "'Free As a Bird'-- we've released everything. I quite like that, really."

As for song titles, Argos never fails to amuse. "I've been thinking about pop music, you see, as I was writing it. I really like pop songs at the moment. And I think accidentally, because of that, I've named some of our songs after famous pop songs without realizing it. [But] they have nothing to do with the originals!" New jams include (no joke) "Pump Up the Volume" and "I Will Survive", as well as "People in Love", and "Late Sunday Evening".

Much-loved recent single "Nag Nag Nag Nag" also makes an appearance, although it may turn up in slightly altered form. Mused Argos, "I really want to change-- you know in 'Nag' it says, 'Older but wiser/ The song's the decider.' I want the album version to say, 'Older but wiser/ This album's the decider.'

"I'm going to try and mix it so I can do that. But yeah, we're running out of time, because I keep mucking about changing everything!"

Argos claims that, at the present moment, he feels "a little bit" older and wiser personally. "I was looking back at what I've been writing for this album, and the first album was a bit like when I was 15 and met my first girlfriend and my first band, and now this one is a little bit older. Even though I'm 27, I'd say I'm about 17 in the songs. In the next album, I'll be like, nearly 20! It'll be fine, and then I'll really be 30 someday."

Interestingly enough, age also factors into Argos' response to another question, the question you've no doubt been grinding your fingernails into your thighs anticipating: What's the present status of Eddie Argos' facial hair, namely that fetching mustache?

"It's gone forever, I think. People kept thinking I was 40, things like that. I read a review that said we were a mixed age band-- and I'm not even the oldest member! It's vanity, maybe, to shave it off, but people kept thinking I'm in my mid-30s, so I had to cut it.

"And my mum didn't like it, and I got sick of her moaning about it."

Regarding his recently deceased mustache, Argos added, with a laugh, "It's the best that I could grow. All my facial hair, really, is above my eyes. God cursed me-- I can't even grow sideburns!"

Catch clean-shaven Argos and his delightfully sloppy band as Art Brut take to the States next month then cruise the UK on a stint opening for Maxïmo Park. After that, a brief UK headlining trek, and then, the moon and beyond.

Ready, Art Brut?:

04-17 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
04-18 Brooklyn, NY - Studio B
04-19 Toronto, Ontario - The Mod Club
04-20 Chicago, IL - Subterranean
04-21 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
04-23 Cardiff, Wales - University *
04-24 Leeds, England - University *
04-25 Nottingham, England - Rock City *
04-26 Manchester, England - Ritz *
04-27 Liverpool, England - Academy *
04-30 Bristol, England - Academy *
05-01 Southampton, England - Guildhall *
05-02 Norwich, England - UEA *
05-03 Birmingham, England - Academy *
05-05 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands *
05-06 Aberdeen, Scotland - Music Hall *
05-07 Sunderland, England - Manor Quay *
05-08 Northumbria, England - Stage 1 *
05-11 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire *
06-13 London, England - Kentish Town Forum
06-14 Birmingham, England - Academy 2
06-15 Manchester, England - Academy 3
06-16 Glasgow, Scotland - Oran Mor
06-18 Leeds, England - Cockpit

* with Maxïmo Park