Early years Argos had formed
The Art Goblins and moved to London in 2001, looking to form a new band. He met guitarist Chris Chinchilla at an afterparty hosted by London indie rock band
Ciccone in 2002. Argos also invited Ian Catskilkin, whom he knew from the Bournemouth music scene, to join on guitar. They were joined by Freddy Feedback, Chinchilla's flatmate, on bass guitar and Mikey Breyer on drums; and rehearsed at Scar studios in Camden. The name 'Art Brut' was inspired by Argos's visit to the
Musée d'Art Naïf – Max Fourny. The band played their first gig in May 2003, at
the Verge in Kentish Town. After gigging for several months, they recorded demos of "Formed a Band" and "Modern Art" with
Keith Top of the Pops at Supernova Studios. The band became associated with the
New Cross scene, and this version of a "Formed a Band" was released on new New Cross-based record label
Angular's compilation
The New Cross: An Angular Sampler, in November 2003.
Rough Trade, a long-running indie music label, offered Art Brut a deal to release "Formed a Band" as a one-off single. It was released in March 2004, backed with "Bad Weekend". It peaked at number 52 on the
UK Singles Chart.
Mute In 2006, Art Brut signed to
Mute Records (then owned by
EMI) in Europe for the release of another album, with
Downtown Records covering the United States. The band toured extensively in the United States in 2006, being the
musical guest on
Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 4 May 2006, and on a later leg supporting
We Are Scientists. In 2007 they played on the American
NME Rock and Roll Riot tour with
The Hold Steady. The second single, "Direct Hit", was released a week before the album, featuring the B-sides "Don't Blame it on the Trains" and "I Want to be Double A-Sided". Promotion included an appearance on
Late Night with Conan O'Brien on 20 June 2007. The album was released in June 2007. In the United States, the album reached No. 14 on the
Billboard Heatseekers chart and No. 32 on the Independent Albums chart. EMI had been under financial problems in 2007 and was acquired by
Terra Firma Capital Partners in August 2007. The label released "Pump Up the Volume" as a third single for ''It's A Bit Complicated'' in February 2008, as a digital-only release with no video, apparently without telling the band. In late 2010, Art Brut recorded their fourth album,
Brilliant! Tragic!, released on 23 May 2011. The first single from the album was "Lost Weekend". The album was again produced in Salem by Frank Black. Promotion included another five-day residency, this time at
The Lexington in London. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band's first gig, in 2013, Art Brut released
Art Brut Top of the Pops, a two CD
best of compilation album, including B-sides and rarities, such as the
Brutlegs versions of some early songs. The album title refers to the band's chant during live performances of "Art Brut! Top of the Pops! Art Brut! Top of the Pops!" On 13 September 2013 it was revealed that Breyer and Future had decided to leave the band, and that their replacements would be
Stephen Gilchrist and Toby MacFarlaine respectively.
Alcopop! Art Brut's fifth album, ''
Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out!'', produced by
Jim Moray, was released in November 2018, on
Alcopop! Records. It was preceded by two singles: the title track "Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out!", in August 2018, and "Hospital!" in October 2018. The band now features
Charlie Layton from
the Wedding Present on drums. After two dates in London in November and January, the band started their first tour since 2013 in February 2019: UK dates in February and March were to be followed by European shows in April. The band then played a number of summer festivals. Art Brut collaborated with We Are Scientists (see below) for a
Record Store Day EP release in 2019. In 2020 they released a German language version of "My Little Brother", "Mein kleiner Bruder". A UK tour with
the Subways in spring 2020 was interrupted by the
COVID-19 pandemic For Record Store Day 2020, the band released a re-recorded, 16-minute version of early single "Modern Art", again with record sleeves designed by fans and friends.
Relationships with other bands Art Brut invited various bands to provide guest vocals on "Top of the Pops!", their contribution to the second Angular compilation, "Rip Off Your Labels: More Angular Product", including
The Boyfriends,
The Long Blondes,
The Rocks,
The Violets,
Luxembourg,
Ciccone, The Swear and
Abdoujaparov. These bands had mostly provided tracks to the Angular compilations themselves. Relations with Bloc Party, also an Angular band, were more strained: a dispute conducted by media between Argos with Bloc Party lead singer
Kele culminated in a physical confrontation at a nightclub. Art Brut had a system of "franchises", whose names range from AB0 (the original Art Brut) to AB3.14/Pi, AB², AB17 or even to AB29600 (from Rennes and Morlaix, France), who perform and cover Art Brut songs. The band have released a split 7-inch with
We Are Scientists in 2006, with Art Brut covering We Are Scientists' "The Great Escape", and We Are Scientists covering "Bang Bang Rock & Roll" (in the style of
The Velvet Underground – in reference to the song's lyric of "I can't stand the sound of the Velvet Underground"). We Are Scientists also have an Art Brut franchise number, 47. Art Brut resumed their collaboration with We Are Scientists in 2019, with a split 12-inch for
Record Store Day, as "WASABI" (We Are Scientists Art Brut International). Argos and
Black Box Recorder released a single, "Christmas Number One", under the name The Black Arts, in 2007. In 2010, Argos released an album with the side project
Everybody Was in the French Resistance...Now!, featuring Dyan Valdés from
The Blood Arm on vocals and keyboards. The album, called ''Fixin' the Charts'' was a collection of songs in responses to classic pop songs, including those by
Michael Jackson,
Martha Reeves & the Vandellas and
Kanye West. The band's early supporter
Keith Top of the Pops played his first gig in support of Art Brut in New York in 2006, with members of Art Brut acting as his band. Keith has now released three albums, under the name "Keith Top of the Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band", which variously feature contributions from most of Art Brut, Black Box Recorder, The Blood Arm, We Are Scientists and numerous other musicians, including members of The Boyfriends, Luxembourg, Ciccone and Abdoujaparov. ==Members==