Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2010 > May > 22 > Entry
Art Brut front man brings side project to Emo’s tonight
Half stand-up comedian and half rock ‘n’ roll vocalist, genial Briton Eddie Argos made his name as the front man for the wildly entertaining, self-referential rock band Art Brut. But with cumbersomely titled side project Everybody Was In The French Resistance … Now, Argos steers away from the charging rock of Art Brut for a variable pop sound and songs that deconstruct, criticize and generally eviscerate the pop tunes for which he has so much affection.
With girlfriend Dyan Valdés of the Blood Arm, Argos crafted a debut self-titled album consisting of 12 rebukes of famous pop songs. He takes aim at the absentee father of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” on “Billie’s Genes,” criticizes Kanye West for patronizing a lowly janitor on “Coal Digger” and tells Paul Anka that “My Way (Is Not Always The Best Way).”
After playing a series of shows during the South by Southwest Music Festival, Argos and Valdés return to Austin tonight for a performance at Emo’s inside. Argos spoke with us about showing up U2, Elastica’s magical guitar and what recent ditty might be celebrated on their next album.
American-Statesman: Since your self-titled album is essentially one long dissection of pop music, it seems appropriate that you recorded it at Joshua Tree, namesake of the seminal U2 album. Were you aiming for an extra level of commentary by doing that?
Eddie Argos: I’d like to say yes, but honestly it just seems like a very lucky coincidence. Our friend has a studio and a house in California, so we kind of just made it happen. But yeah, you know, U2 didn’t record their album there. They just took a picture next to it. So we’re better than U2 in that way. We actually did record there. It’s very much in keeping with that idea of being critical of pop, yeah.
How did you go about singling which songs to deconstruct for this record? You’re on record as being a very big pop fan, so it’s easy to imagine that this album could have been 100 tracks long.
That’s why it’s called “Volume One”! It eventually probably will be 100 tracks. But no, it started off because I was angry about “Jimmy Mack” and Avril Lavigne, and somewhere along the way it shifted and became more of an homage. Because I love Bob Dylan. And I love Elastica. So it kind of became the opposite of what I intended, and I started putting on songs that I just sort of liked. “Waldo P. Emerson Jones,” that’s my favorite Archies song, for instance, but as it turns out I’m the only one who’s ever heard it. Nobody ever knows what I’m talking about.
A lot of your songs are critiques; your Elastica song mainly just sounds like you wish Elastica had stayed together.
I love Elastica. The funny thing is, we recorded that song, and it turns out the guitar we recorded it on is the exact same guitar that they used on their first album. (Producer/engineer) Dave (Newton) was in this band that stole Elastica’s guitar inadvertently a few years ago. That’s a weird coincidence. It’s probably a magic guitar.
Would it be fair to call a lot of the album, however loving, a critique of the idea of pop music as life and/or relationship advice?
Oh yeah. I listened to pop music a lot when I was really younger, and I learned a lot of moral values from them, because I stopped listening to my parents. But to be honest, they’re kind of sucky things to take advice from. So many of them are about stealing someone’s boyfriend. It’s cool when you’re young, because it’s kind of the opposite of parental nagging, but it’s terrible stuff, really. I’ve stopped listening in that way. Maybe I’m growing up a little bit.
Have there been any recent pop songs that you think will stand the test of time and merit an Eddie Argos skewering?
It takes a lot of time for pop to sink in before I can tell if it deserves it. Yesterday, I was like “You know, I want to have a go at Katy Perry.” And I felt all fresh before I realized “I Kissed A Girl” was two years old. There’s a gap between a song coming out and when I figure out a response to it. I’m really bad about spontaneity. I like to mull things over.
Everybody Was In The French Resistance … Now plays Emo’s inside tonight. Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets are $12.
Follow Austin Music Source on Facebook and Twitter.
Permalink | | Categories: Interview
