Art Brut have declared that from this year forward 27 Oct will be International Art Brut Day, upon which their debut album, ‘Bang Bang Rock & Roll’, will be made available to download for free on Bandcamp. This year (and perhaps others) the band will also play the album in full at Heaven in London. That will not be free.
“To mark the inauguration of this special event”, says frontman Eddie Argos, “20 years to the day that I wrote 'Art Brut Top Of The Pops' for the first time in the guestbook of the Halle Saint-Pierre Museum on a trip to Paris for my birthday, we'll be donating a copy of the seminal Art Brut album to that seminal art brut museum too. The place it undoubtedly belongs for the ages”.
“In these troubled times, there should be no one with an active internet connection who doesn't have free access to owning ‘Bang Bang Rock & Roll’”, he adds.
The 2005 album was reissued by Alcopop! Records and Fierce Panda back in 2020 to mark its fifteenth anniversary. However, a live celebration was derailed by COVID. Now, with the upcoming Heaven gig, that can finally be rectified, somewhat late in the day. Tickets are on sale now.