The band's sound is characterised by their straightforward guitar rock setup, as well as frontman Eddie Argos' enthusiastic sprechgesang-style vocal delivery, and his humorous, often self-reflexive lyrics about music, relationships and other personal interests.

He met guitarist Chris Chinchilla at an afterparty hosted by London indie rock band Ciccone in 2002.

Argos also invited Ian Catskilkin, whom he knew from the Bournemouth music scene, to join on guitars.

They were joined by Freddy Feedback, Chinchilla's flatmate, on bass guitar and Mikey Breyer on drums; and rehearsed at Scar studios in Camden.

[1] The name 'Art Brut' was inspired by Argos's visit to the Musée d'Art Naïf – Max Fourny.

[2] After gigging for several months, they recorded demos of "Formed a Band" and "Modern Art" with Keith Top of the Pops at Supernova Studios.

[citation needed] Rough Trade, a long-running indie music label, offered Art Brut a deal to release "Formed a Band" as a one-off single.

For the vinyl release, each individual single cover was unique, being painted by attendees of the launch party.

It features re-recorded versions of "Formed a Band", "Bad Weekend", "Modern Art", My Little Brother", three songs originally written for a concept project about the "Gatti Gang", an off-shoot of the Red Brigades: "18,000 Lira", "Rusted Guns of Milan", "Stand Down".

Chinchilla left due to the pressures of touring in September 2005, and was replaced at short notice by Jasper Future, guitarist from Argos' old Bournemouth band, The Art Goblins, for Bestival.

This new line-up toured Europe, including two support slots with Oasis in October 2005 – the band made the cover of the German edition of Rolling Stone magazine in September 2005.

The band toured extensively in the United States in 2006, being the musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

[6] This second album It's a Bit Complicated was produced by Dan Swift (after an attempt by Russell Senior was rejected by the label).

The second single "Direct Hit" was released a week before the album, featuring the B-sides "Don't Blame it on the Trains" and "I Want to be Double A-Sided".

The band toured throughout the year and played the Glastonbury Festival amongst others, including a five-day residency at the Mercury Lounge in New York City in June.

The album title refers to the band's chant during live performances of "Art Brut!

"[12][13] On 13 September 2013 it was revealed that Breyer and Future had decided to leave the band, and that their replacements would be Stephen Gilchrist and Toby MacFarlaine respectively.

[15][16][17][18][19] Art Brut collaborated with We Are Scientists (see below) for a Record Store Day EP release in 2019.

[23] Art Brut invited various bands to provide guest vocals on "Top of the Pops!

[30] In 2010, Argos released an album with the side project Everybody Was in the French Resistance...Now!, featuring Dyan Valdés from The Blood Arm on vocals and keyboards.

Keith has now released three albums, under the name "Keith Top of the Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band", which variously feature contributions from most of Art Brut, Black Box Recorder, The Blood Arm, We Are Scientists and numerous other musicians, including members of The Boyfriends, Luxembourg, Ciccone and Abdoujaparov.