Everybody Was in the French Resistance...Now

One of his generation's great poets of the mundane has formed a band about a great mundane pastime: aimlessly rewriting whatever song's on the radio. Trading Art Brut's meaty riffs for more worldly instrumentation, Eddie Argos remains loutishly charming as he inhabits characters such as Michael Jackson's Billie Jean (she's got daddy issues) and the harried object of affection in Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend." Gimmicky? Sure, but it's a hoot to hear pop fantasy dragged into unglamorous reality. As always, Argos stumbles into poignancy on his way to the punch line.

By Spencer Kornhaber