Boards
Alex Turner's musical future
With the Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner is bogged down by dead weights.
They made absolutely no change for their second album. People liked it here and there, but where the first had three or four show-stoppers, the second washes over you like a wave of boring soup.
Live - they were one of the worst bands I'd ever seen. Even before I became cynical of 'bloody modern music', and whilst I was infatuated, I left their set early at Leeds because of how disappoint they were.
Where do they go from this record? The indie band formula is getting very stale at the moment, and unless they take a very large shift in style like The Horrors have done, their third album could easily end up being a big pile of Who Gives A Shit.
Turner obviously explored the areas he's most into with his side project, an area the Arctic Monkeys' fanbase restricts them from going to.
I recently went to see the Last Shadow Puppets accompanied by an orchestra. As someone who's become totally totally bored with live music, they impressed. They were an occasion. I think they could do great things.
If he's not careful, he could end up going down the Noel Gallagher route, playing the debut album for the next ten years. Only, since their debut isn't fit to shine the shoes of Definitely Maybe, there's no chance they'll be filling stadiums in a decades time.