BUZZ BANDS

Brut force, with a dash of whimsy

Even if you dodge the mind-bending question of whether Art Brut is really art brut -- the term refers to “outsider art,” or art created outside the boundaries of culture -- the fledgling British quintet still tickles the brain, not to mention the funny bone.

What to make of an act whose debut single, “Formed a Band,” giddily proclaims, “Look at us / we formed a band” and “We’re going to be the band that writes the song / that makes Israel and Palestine get along”? What to make of an act whose goal is to spawn Art Brut franchise bands? Ironic while denying the presence of irony and jocular while professing the deepest gravity, vocalist Eddie Argos shout-sings his lyrics with the swagger of punk royalty, leaving the punctuation to his band’s garagey guitars, chunky rhythms and background yelps.

“I’m not joking,” Argos says. “I’m talking about life, really.”

Art Brut’s album, “Bang Bang Rock and Roll,” out on independent Fierce Panda in Britain, has not been released yet in the U.S. When the quintet plays Thursday at Spaceland and Friday at the Echo, expect the brash (the album’s title track slags “the sound of the Velvet Underground”), the sensitive (“Emily Kane” is a homage to Argos’ teenage crush) and the humorous (he’s never been here, but he still wrote “Move to L.A.”).

After “Emily Kane” emerged as a single in Britain, the song’s namesake surfaced and gave Argos a call. “She laughed, but nervously,” Argos says. “She told me, ‘You only used my name because it rhymes with so many things.’ ”

And his L.A. fixation?

“It sounded better than ‘Move to Hoboken,’ ” Argos says. “When we perform that song, I always orient myself and point to California. I guess this week I’ll have to point to the floor.”

Monkeying around

Internet buzz is deafening on the young Sheffield quartet the Arctic Monkeys, whose first single, the much-downloaded “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor,” went to No. 1 in Britain shortly after its October release.

Signed to Domino (home of Franz Ferdinand) and having earned comparisons to the Libertines, the Arctic Monkeys (along with New York’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) might well be the Web’s most-hyped act of the year. The foursome makes its L.A. debut Friday night at Spaceland in front of a crowd sure to be thick with A&R; types.

Fast

forward

Alt-country quartet Limbeck has a busy weekend, winding up a monthlong tour with shows tonight at the Echo, Friday in San Diego and two on Sunday -- in two states. In the afternoon, the O.C. foursome (using borrowed gear except for their guitars) plays the Grand Cayenne Music Festival in Mesa, Ariz. Then the band will fly to Orange County, retrieve their tour van and perform at Chain Reaction in Anaheim.... Hawthorne’s finest, Dios (Malos), finishes off its tour with a Saturday night show at El Rey Theatre.... Walter Clevenger & the Dairy Kings head a lineup of four acts performing a benefit Saturday night at Fitzgerald’s Irish Pub in Huntington Beach; all the proceeds go to the Boys & Girls Club of Stanton. In his role as head of Brewery Records, Clevenger is also releasing “Lowe Profile: A Tribute to Nick Lowe,” a compilation featuring contributions from artists such as Dave Alvin and the Muffs.

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Kevin Bronson

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Recommended downloads

* Download Art Brut’s “Fight” at media.spin.com/features/band_of_the_day/audio/2005/07/art_brut_fight_ hi.mp3

* Watch the video for the Arctic Monkeys’ “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor” at www.dominorecordco.com/site/minisites/arctic_monkeys/am.html