All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Playlouder

'Bang Bang Rock & Roll' is as clever as it is funny as it is entertaining. It's the most original independent album in years.

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100

Alternative Press

Depending on your worldview, Art Brut are either the most whimsical folks in Britrock or the most sardonic bastards you've ever worshiped via air guitar. [Jul 2006, p.186]

Stylus Magazine

It doesn’t matter how well you can thrash or shred if it doesn’t sound good, and rarely does a section of Bang Bang Rock and Roll sound as if it wasn’t well thought-out and created with the intent to entertain.

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Village Voice (Consumer Guide)

This is the stuff of one-shot art-punk.

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Drowned In Sound

It's astounding that AB can reel off so many downright enjoyable songs that it almost hurts.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

It’s surprisingly comforting to hear a band like this come along and put everything in perspective, making you fall in love with music relating to your life, instead of becoming so grandiose and impersonal as most music has in recent years.

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All Music Guide

Though it runs out of steam slightly (at least in comparison to the pop art brilliance of the band's best songs) on its second half, Bang Bang Rock & Roll is a terrific debut, and Art Brut is smart, catchy, and fun.

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Pitchfork

It's tempting to think of Art Brut as the foreign replacement for the catchy/clever observances Weezer used to traffic.

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Spin

These Brits deconstruct bombast via bombastic guitar riffs. [Jun 2005, p.108]

Mojo

Every generation needs an Art Brut. [Jun 2005, p.100]

Uncut

Adopting Franz Ferdinand's arty edginess and the raw energy of the Pistols, Art Brut tilt at everything from the ephemeral nature of popular culture to erectile dysfunction. [Jun 2005, p.100]

Blender

At their most thrilling, they fuse the spiky cool of Elastica with the witty self-consciousness of LCD Soundsystem. [Sep 2005, p.131]

Lost At Sea

While there isn't much variation in instrumentation or sound, the impeccable, thought-provoking lyrics more than make up for it.

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Trouser Press

The gap between expectations and delivery, the contrast of emotions that go into real life as opposed to pop fantasy, makes this brief but satisfying album a pointed delight.

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Delusions of Adequacy

It's a bit of an acquired taste, but at record's end, you'll be extremely satisfied.

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Prefix Magazine

The members of Art Brut manage to infuse humor without pushing it too far. Or maybe they do push it too far, and that's why it feels more important.

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cokemachineglow

It all adds up to blatantly catchy, deceptively simple wannabe-clever, can’t-help-but-be-cheeky art-punk.

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Billboard

Though its novelty diminishes more with each listen (with the first being the freshest, most energetic romp of them all), "Bang Bang Rock & Roll" still stubbornly continues to amuse.

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PopMatters

Bang Bang Rock and Roll is still the most welcome, here's-mud-in-yer-eye debut since The Libertines' Up the Bracket.

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New Musical Express

This is both a fine and fun album. [21 May 2005, p.65]

ShakingThrough.net

Frenzied throwaways like “Modern Art” and vapid observations like “popular culture no longer applies to me,” from “Bad Weekend,” keep Bang Bang Rock and Roll from attaining that rarified feel of unveiling something truly special.

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Under The Radar

And yet, for all the music’s grand gestures (circus-style rhythms, stops and starts, laments of an emotional world come crashing down), this is a world of minutiae, observations never far from the poet’s reckoning [#14]

Sputnikmusic

It's like the debut, but slightly different, definitely better.

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The Guardian

Whether shouting, wisecracking or guffawing, [Argos] spends their entire debut album veering between irony and geekery.

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Q Magazine

This is essentially a couple of singles spread way too thinly. [Jun 2005, p.110]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 76 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Marc gave it a10:
Most of you people are crazy. This is top-shelf stuff.

Eric C gave it a9:
I can't believe there's a band making music like this. But I'm ecstatic that they are. Some of the bluntest music you'll ever hear (you'll quickly realize this in the first track, which simply celebrates the fact that they formed a band). It may not stick with you too long, but for those first few listens, it's an experience you won't be finding anywhere else.

Jay P gave it a10:
It doesn't get any better than this. Best record of the decade.

Ray l gave it a9:
Fantastic

Delicious gave it a6:
Some catchy songs, but hardly revolutionary. They might seem special to someone who has absolutely no knowledge of other independent bands, maybe? Art Brut have some catchy songs, but the lead singer steals Mark E. Smith's shtick and the band is just generic garage rock.

Todd W gave it an8:
If these guys ever take themselves seriously, we could be looking at another Clash, or at least Sonic Youth. This album is often smart, sometimes funny, and it ROCKS. However, in spots it's a little too cute. And cute doesn't translate well to the ugly masses. The Sheep simply never get it. Popular culture no longer applies to them. Perhaps that's a good thing for the rest of us. It would be nice to keep these guys our little secret. However, you would hope that just once, ONCE, the denizens of the dark waters of the Sewerstream would wake up and answer the door when a rcok band like Art Brut come banging.

Steve C gave it a0:
Pretentious rubbish. Awful. Talentless. Highly irritating.

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Bang Bang Rock & Roll

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