I don’t remember how the band Art Brut entered my life a decade ago — did I read a review? did my friend Christine recommend them? — but that debut album, Bang Bang Rock & Roll, really did it for me. Soon my buddies Allan and Jim were fans too. Leader Eddie Argos wasn’t the most gifted singer ever (he basically spoke his way through songs), but he was smart and funny and represented us, the awkward boys. We all had an “Emily Kane” in our lives. Plus, the band rocked.
For reasons that also escape me, I’ve only gotten to see the band once, at the late great Maxwell’s right here in Hoboken. They were promoting their fourth (and still most recent) album in the summer of 2011. It was a tremendous show.
In March of last year, I learned that Eddie Argos had written a memoir. Not only that, but it would feature illustrations by the illustrious Katie Pope of the fantastic band the Just Joans. And she’s friends with my friend Susannah. It was kismet; I quickly supported Argos’s Indiegogo campaign to pre-order the book.
Some time later, when a mysterious, thick envelope arrived from Germany, I had no idea what might be inside. Unsolicited Hasselhoff memorabilia? But apparently the book had been published in Berlin via the “Lo Fi Punk Rock Motherfucking Press” imprint. Hey, why not! And as an Indiegogo perk, it included a lovely color postcard featuring Ms. Pope’s art. Ooh, it was a nice fat book. Yet I was briefly put off when I noticed that the text was significantly larger than expected; did this really need to be a nearly 400-page volume? Soon I calmed down, remembering that: A) I’m not the spring chicken I once was, and big letters are a help, and B) I’m a slow reader so this would help my pace, while still appearing to those across from me on public transportation that I’m reading something with heft.
Other nice touches: Eddie’s autograph, a stamped first-edition number (159, baby), and an introduction by the Pixies’ Frank Black, who produced Art Brut’s third album. That’s unassailable indie-rock credibility right there, ladies and gentlemen.
Yes, Jack, but the contents of the book, how was the book??? OK, OK, ease up on your multiple question marks, I was just about to get to that. I Formed a Band is a pleasure to read. If you’re already an Art Brut fan, Eddie’s author voice will be very familiar to you: totally conversational, heart on his sleeve, very funny, and a bit snarky. We’ve been getting some autobiography all along in the songs. (Formed a band, they formed a band! His little brother just discovered rock and roll. Etc. Etc. I won’t get into the Rusted Guns of Milan but he certainly does.) The book serves to flesh it all out.
Eddie Argos emerges as the everyperson who had genuinely lived the dream: Despite lack of formal (or, really, informal) training, he wanted to be in a band, so he persistently made it happen. And he played shows. And made records. And toured the world! He shares with us the successes and failures, hopes and frustrations, brushes with greatness and with jerkness. It seems like anyone who was in a band, or is still in a band, or wanted to be in a band but never actually was in band — all of you should read this book.
If I have one gripe with I Formed a Band, I kept wishing I’d been allowed to proofread it. Many times, there’s no period at the end of a sentence, or various other English-major-enfuriating little errors. But really, it’s all in keeping with the “slap dash for no cash” lo-fi aesthetic of the whole endeavor. Even Katie Pope’s wonderful black-and-white interior illustrations have a really raw quality to them; you can truly feel the energy as Eddie drunkenly stumbles his way around the globe.
While we eagerly await another Art Brut album, I Formed a Band is much more than a stop-gap measure. Modern memoir makes me want to rock out!
Jack Silbert, curator