Speaking to The Stranger last week about how Art Brut was able to record an album as surprisingly solid as Art Brut vs. Satan while still adhering to something like their "Slap Dash for No Cash" credo, frontman Eddie Argos explained, simply, "Well, you know, we're professionals." It's funny because Argos's whole persona is based on being this kind of schlubby, broke, record-nerdy everyman—and, yes, he's not really what you'd call a classically trained singer—but damn if he and especially his band aren't total pros, as well as being about the most fun a rock band can get without going completely over the top into Flight of the Conchords comedy-rock territory.

The band began their set last Saturday at Neumos with "Alcoholics Unanimous," after which Argos noted that, though Art Brut avoids irony whenever possible, it felt a little ironic playing that song in Seattle, Washington, due to the WSLCB's onerous, antiquated (and frankly embarrassing) liquor laws—he likened trying to get a drink to running a relay. They played "Rusted Guns of Milan," and Argos took to the bridge with a monologue about camping out at Glastonbury with a girl, waking up to the sounds of Elastica performing, which should have been sexy, but then failing to perform himself (I may be misremembering this, but I think the band broke into an Elastica riff at this point—I suppose it could have been a Wire riff, too). They followed that one with a song about getting it on more successfully, "What a Rush," with Argos explaining that since they've been playing the two together, he's come to think of them as "bad cock/good cock."

"What a Rush" is just a hell of a song (although I don't much care for the background vocals), from the pile of clothes in disarray to the dumb double entendre "a massive rush of blood to the head" to the great lines, "You like the Beatles, and I like the Stones/But those are just records that our parents own" and "There's a scene missing/We were seen kissing."

The band, as usual, was tight and rocking. Drummer Mikey Breyer played the entire set standing up, lead guitarist Ian Catskilkin strangled out solos at every opportunity, guitarist Jasper Future was dutifully hammy. Everything sounded just as good as on record—full of catchy-as-fuck guitar lines and perfectly upbeat rhythms backing up Argos's inspired lecturing—but still a little bit live-wired. Despite their apparent professionalism, Art Brut still cast themselves against a sort of bland overprofessionalism—they dedicated "Slap Dash for No Cash" to Kings of Leon, Razorlight, and a few other dreadfully middling vanilla rock bands that I forgot as soon as Argos rattled them off. For the extended bridge of the song, Argos derisively sang "my sex is on fire" a few times before going off about how even after "millions of dollars and hundreds of rewrites," the best Kings of Leon could come up with was "my sex is on fire." "What the fuck does that even mean?" Argos demanded. So, delightfully, not above a little professional beef, either.