ARMRUG – Girls, Etc (EP)
Posted: March 26th, 2007, by Mandy WilliamsLike Art Brut’s horny baby brother, Armrug have burst onto the Preston gig scene. This Mancunian band are named after the singer Jamie’s hairy upper limb, and dub themselves indie-punk-disco-sex-rockers.
Now here’s the shocker: the currently unsigned trio have two guitarists and no bassist. You’d never know it; they make up for it with powerful riffs and frenetic drumming. The first track here ‘I Love You, Can I Go Down On You?’ revolves around the title’s repeated refrain. The owner of the armrug sounds like Graham Coxon as he performs his singalong terrace chant. “Hey you, come on it’s summer!” he rationalizes. What better chat up line could a girl ask for?
It’s a stabbing guitar that provides the foundation for ‘Meeting Up With Girls’. The chorus is all over the place, clapping, chanting and percussion that sounds like they got their mates round banging on dustbins and pans with wooden spoons. “Waiting for a girl, standing outside Boots, everyone around are rushing buying suits” is the short sharp shock lyricism you’d expect from The Rakes. Like Eddie Argos, Mr Armrug boasts “My voice is the greatest sound in the world, listen to it, I’ll sing it to you girl”. Orgasmic howls are backed with sharp guitar work that Wire wouldn’t have turned their noses up at.
The next track ‘Girls That Melt In Your Mouth’ mixes amusing phrasing like “why do hot girls seem to act so surly? Said this to her face maybe too early,” with the annoying “What a body what a body” refrain. Strangely, we are then treated to a rap section, somewhere between Parklife-Phil Daniels and John Cooper Clarke.
In the last track they rant “I guess I look good on the dance floor, ‘coz I sure cant play guitar”, mocking the haircut generation. You feel like you’ve been catapulted back Life on Mars-style to the ’70s. The laddish sexism does get a bit much after a while – you can literally feel the hormones racing through every song. Having said that, it exudes an erudite honesty by way of crisp clear vocals. Just don’t play it for your mum!