Title Fight: "Good Weekend"

Oil painting titled River by Carroll N. Bailey, 1933

Here are two simple, celebratory songs about a simple concept worth celebrating - having a good weekend. It being Friday and all, I'm totally feeling the "Good Weekend" vibe.

London's Art Brut appeared out of nowhere in late 2004 with a bunch of bootleg singles and a great sound, based on stripped-down guitar riffs and wordy talk-sing vocals. "Good Weekend" was the song of theirs that caught my attention. Art Brut frontman Eddie Argos was about 25 when this song was recorded, I think, but it's like a lot of songs in that it captures a very "teenage" moment - the pure exultation of having a new girlfriend. Starting with a great snare drum rhythm and snarly guitar lead, Art Brut's "Good Weekend" retells the story of how our hero came to get his "brand new girlfriend" - it basically all leads up to the bridge, which culminates with Argos shouting, "I've seen her naked - TWICE!" Art Brut's sound isn't for anyone, but it's hard to argue that this song doesn't hit the bulls-eye in what it's aiming for.

Back in the late '60s, another band tried to hit this same vibe - Amsterdam rock band Short '66 only released a few singles during their years together, but one of the best is the b-side of their "Mary Is My Sweetheart Again" single - a song called "Good Weekend". Like Art Brut's track, this one starts with a snarly guitar lead, but things kind of take some weirder turns after that. The verse of Short '66's "Good Weekend" has a shiny-happy sing-song melody and some noticeable Dutch accents - then, at the one-minute mark, the intro's guitar lead comes back as part of a shouty "Good weekend!" chorus. Probably knowing that the chorus sounds kind of stupid, the band quickly retreats back to the verse melody, then back to the chorus before a quick fade-out. No! It's a fake fade-out and, with a shrill rape-whistle, the chorus comes back one more time and the song ends with yet another quick verse.

Short '66's songs is fun in a way, but it's also a real mess. Art Brut wins this in a walk.

Winner: ART BRUT

"Good Weekend" by Art Brut

"Good Weekend" by Short '66