Artist Art Brut

A band as inspiringly brash and snotty as Britain's Art Brut seemed fated to burn bright and dim fast. Expectations aside, the quintet's cynical outsider attitude has matured since its 2005 debut, nurtured by frontman Eddie Argos' acidic observations (evoking a post-punk Ray Davies) and his bandmates' aggressive imitations of The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys. The band has developed its sound in the intervening years, first with 2007’s It’s A Bit Complicated and now with this year's Art Brut Vs. Satan—a more rebellious album than those recorded by most of the band's fellow art-wave outfits and produced by no less than Frank Black.

Updated 10/07/2009