Big Bang slipped through cracks

These weeks immediately after the holiday shopping season are a wasteland for new releases. So why not dig up something that slipped through 2006's cracks? And, indeed, what I'm recommending slipped so deep that seemingly only mp3 bloggers and mole men know about it.\nOriginally released in Britain in 2005, Art Brut's Bang Bang Rock and Roll didn't get U.S. distribution until mid-2006. Therefore, what publicity it received came before the album was widely available and, once available, folks had moved on. This is a shame, as it was not only widely acclaimed by those few who heard it (for instance, it was No. 3 on Pitchfork's Top 50 albums of 2005 list), but also because it's one of the best punk albums of the last 20 years.\nWhen I say that, don't expect Mohawks, super-fast guitars and calls for anarchy. Bang Bang Rock and Roll instead recalls punk's origin as an aesthetic (rather than political) movement based on the idea that rock needed to be rescued from prog-rock's bloated pomposity, that passion was more important than technical skill. This spurred The Ramones, The Clash, The Sex Pistols and The Buzzcocks to form, and Art Brut carries the idea forward, simultaneously attacking rock's pretensions while celebrating its essential values. And they do this with humor, heart and endlessly quotable lyrics.\nUnable to sing due to speech-affecting learning disability, lead vocalist Eddie Argos speaks/shouts like The Fall's Mark E. Smith except rather than spouting oblique poetry, he tells witty, sad-sack stories reminiscent of Pulp's Jarvis Cocker. This is supported by vibrant "three-chord" garage rock that provides the key subtext behind Argos' lyrics (not to mention that it'll get you bouncing up and down).\nThus armed, they display surprising range. For example, in "Formed a Band," "Bang Bang Rock and Roll," "Moving to LA" and "Bad Weekend," Art Brut attacks egotism, banality, elitism and general silliness in the rock world; while poking (sympathetic) fun at hipsterism in "My Little Brother," mocking their "art punk" classification in "Modern Art" and (rather literally) deflating rock machismo in "Rusted Guns of Milan." And yet, in "Emily Kane" and "Good Weekend," they manage to craft stirring pop-punk love songs worthy of The Buzzcocks or The Undertones.\nSo, check it out. You might find it's not for you but, then, if it were for everybody, it wouldn't be punk, would it?