Art Brut - Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock out! (2018)

Here to remind us of our insatiable, adolescent appetite for music, Art Brut are back together. What started as a break-up album and turned into an 'in-love record', Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out! is a collection of post-punk, poppy bangers that recall the distinctive sound that burst out of the Berlin-based band back in 2005. It's been seven years since the group's last LP and sees Argos' self-referential, sincere narrative shape into poignant reflections of encompassing a youthful heart in a world that perpetually forces us to grow up.

Argos was careful to "live a life" before attempting a new album. "I moved to Berlin, I nearly died with Peritonitis. I was in hospital for a bit. I had a son, I had a relationship that broke up. I wrote a comic, a memoir, a musical and had a one man show," he says. "I don't want to be that band who writes the sort of songs like "I don't like touring, touring is really boring". I think we needed a rest so some stuff could happen to me, to fill me up."

Produced by award-winning folk musician Jim Moray, Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out! is Art Brut at their pop band best. Argos recorded his vocals in one or two takes, channeling the sporadic nature of his live performances while hand claps and ad-libbed jokes and howls produce a raw and authentic work. Morphing almost any mundane experience into a hilariously candid anecdote whether it's watching hipsters eat falafel on 'Good Morning Berlin', planning a better diet after a health scare on 'Hospital!' or dodging a train ticket inspector on 'Schwarzfahrer' Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out! is testament to the frontman's unconventional approach to finding inspiration in just about anything.