Article I criticise about 'brutes' (7)
I believe the answer is:
animals
'brutes' is the definition.
('animal' can be a synonym of 'brute')
'article i criticise about' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'an' (indefinite article).
'criticise' becomes 'slam' (I've seen this before).
'about' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'slam' reversed gives 'mals'.
'an'+'i'+'mals'='ANIMALS'
(Other definitions for animals that I've seen before include "Wild beasts" , "brutal men" , "Living organisms characterised by voluntary movement" , "pets maybe" , "Living things" .)