- Artists:
- Arctic Monkeys »
- Label:
- Domino Records »
Put yourself in the shoes of somebody who hasn't heard anything about Arctic Monkeys before placing this shiny disc in your stereo. Imagine, as unlikely as it is, that you didn't download it weeks ago. Even, and I know this is pushing it, pretend that you've not got sick of being told that they're the future of music.
Failing that, jump into the nearest time machine, set the dial for 'one year ago' and hold on tight. Soon enough you'll be stood outside The Room, a tiny Sheffield venue, waiting to see highly regarded newcomer Tom Vek play a gig. Venture inside and watch, jaw on the floor, as you see a teenage four-piece from High Green tear the place apart. Unsigned and with no ambition to do anything other than put out a record, this is how I'll always choose to remember the 'Monkeys once the inevitable happens and they 'do an Oasis'.
Fast forward to 2006 and their debut album is voted the fifth best British record of all time by NME ahead of 'OK Computer', 'Rubber Soul' and 'What's The Story...' Such an accolade has to be taken with a fistful of salt, but it proves how much things can change in a year. Some things don't, though. The venues may have increased in size but the song remains the same. Arctic Monkeys have an innate ability to soundtrack life in the noughties and it's this, not clever marketing or the internet, that has taken them to the summit of popular music.
These are songs that anyone can relate to, and they're as catchy as hell to boot. It's a simple formula in theory, but to execute it with this much vim and vigour is something most bands struggle to do in their entire career. Ever been out to a club and stood at the side afraid to make the first move? Do you disapprove of some of the things your friends do? Does your girlfriend get annoyed with you sometimes? If you can answer 'no' to all three of these questions, you're an alien. In some ways it'd make the task of reviewing this album much easier because MTV hasn't yet worked out how to transmit to Mars, but back here on earth this is a record that deals in the currency of life.
That in itself would be a bit boring. I mean, who really wants to hear about the monotony of a full-time job or failing to pull when they can experience these things at first hand by getting out of bed? Not me. What I do want to hear is somebody who can describe these phenomena with a wit that wouldn't be out of place in a stand-up show. Step forward Alex Turner, and the cast of characters he conjures up. The girl with the fake tan who you'd still be happy to wake up with after a few pints ('Still Take You Home'), the indie types who wear hats indoors ('Fake Tales Of San Francisco') and the frustrated guy / angry girlfriend combo ('Mardy Bum') are all painfully familiar, but as with all good humour it's the way he delivers them.
So why put this album on and not a Ricky Gervais DVD? Because Gervais, despite the episode of 'The Office' where his guitar makes an appearance, doesn't produce an unashamedly melodic, punk-funk indie-pop racket, and the 'Monkeys do. They certainly don't hang around: with 13 songs in 40 minutes, the pace is breakneck from the outset and the only lull comes with the plaintive 'Riot Van'. Turbo charged guitar and a voluptuous rhythm section makes for a full dancefloor, and whether you look good on it or not that's where you're likely to be when you hear the majority of these tunes.
That has to be the main criteria for judging an album like this, and 'Whatever People Say I Am...' may not make you ponder the finer points of existentialism but it certainly has the ability to brighten even the dreariest of days. First and foremost it's a pop record, and it doesn't have to be big or clever as long as it makes a connection. When it comes to doing that, the 'Monkeys are better than Nokia. The album may have been sat on your computer for weeks, you're almost certainly sick of hearing about their rags to riches story (which, for once, happens to be true) and while Arctic Monkeys may not be the future of music, they're still a mighty fine present.
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Arctic Monkeys
This review is spot on.
Well done.
Good review.
Good album too apart from the elongated jazzwank jam at the end of 'Vampires...'.
I've heard the songs...
...on the radio, in music shops etc. I won't be buying it. It's just very average. They offer nothing new or exciting.
Love It.
Yet strangely i prefer some of the demos. Go figure.
does not liking this band
instantly make you an indie snob?
i'm not cool.
i don't like this band.
am i a bad person?
Pish
Can't be arsed being constructive. They are just pish. So there.
Accolades
I think the review was really good. The hard thing about this band is if I look at what they do on paper, it wouldn't really deserve the accolades...but in my heart of hearts I think they actually DO deserve plenty of accolades.
Are the lyrics any better than the Kaisers or Hard-Fi?? Probably not, I think, Certainly influenced by Mike Skinner, but not quite reaching the same level as OPM did. musically, they're every bit as 1979-81 as everyone else around...
Yet when I heard them for the first time it was as if this was the ONLY newnewnewwaveofnewwave band who actually GOT it, who actually had the same energy/anger/whateverthefuck/Jenesaisquoi/mojo as early Jam or XTC, The Stranglers etc.
The issue I have with most 'new' songwriting bands is that they tend to polish off all the raw edges when they come to make records. With those who (barfs repeatedly) aim straight for the mainstream soft rock middle of the road, I guess that's just what they have to do to get onto the Wallpaper FM playlist, but with all the new wavers it castrates the music. The Arctic Monkeys are certainly the songwriting match of acts like the Kaiser Chiefs, Maximo Park, even Franz Ferdinand, but the thing that attracts me to them is they've left the rawness intact. The record is so much more REAL for that.
cooler than thou wankers
vs
indie snobs
not much, if any, difference.
assmonkey
Nobody seems to mention...
the production on this album is bloody awful! There's some potentially great songs here but they just end up sounding so weak. Shame that.
I don't get it...
Everybody hates chavs but....
Everybody loves songs about being a chav.
Pretty good record though, pure indie-disco fun.
overly defensive?
Give your view of the album - don't be so concerned with second guessing how others will respond to it. Telling 'us' to focus on the product and not the marketing seems a little contradictory given that most of the focus of this review is attempting to counter a perceived backlash. The most ironic thing of all though is that any review is part of that hype/anti-hype phenomenon you seem to have a problem with. You don't just point towards bands you give opinions of them. Reviewing *is* what creates the environment of exaggerated support and detraction.
plus ricky gervais vs alex turner??? - am I the only one who thought that was an odd thing to hinge two paragraphs of the review on.
Plus
why DID they put Adam Sandler on the cover?
p.s. it sounds shit, frankly.
Yes, odd.
But good reivew.
having been at work all day
i haven't been able to reply to this.
But, as alcxxk says, "cooler than thou wankers" more than implies "indie snob" to me.
and, so you know, i have indeed been called "indie snob," but only by people who collect the free cd's that come with the Daily Mail. Yup.
whats going on?
Is this a well written and accurate review on drownedinsound.com I see before me?
I think it might be. I'll be blowed!
This band is a bit like Wayne Rooney - there's loads of hype about them / him but you wonder quite why there aren't more bands / footballers out there doing rocking and catchy albums / raise-a-smile skills. This record / player really does show up how shit some bands / footballers that get signed are, because all in all, all it / he does is do more or less everything right. And that's it.
8/10, clap clap clap. Now please someone else do something as good so everyone shuts up about them!!
With all the hype...
...it would have been really easy to slag this record. So I'm glad you didn't, good review.
It's just a great album. Best lyricist since Jarvis, innit?
do you seriously believe
..that BJ, 1984 and Milburn are better than artic monkeys or are you just saying that to show off that you know of some other bands from south yorkshire.
no i did not give a reason for not liking this band
much like you did not give a reason for denouncing those who don't like it as cooler than thou wankers.
is it my loss? maybe it is my loss. maybe my self imposed, Chuck Norris esque outsider stance is harming my ability to enjoy tired, second hand pub rock and not that clever at all lyrics. maybe such emotional isolation will ultimately leave me adrift from the world of man, leaving me to die poor and alone in a hotel in Hastings. gawd.
there are atually several
'well written and accurate' reviews on here
LOL
.
Indeed.
The mentioned bands are shit, although I havent heard anything by Milburn. I'll just presume their shit.
The Arctic Monkeys are far better and I was ready to dismiss this album but I really like it.
Bromheads Jacket
ARE shit.
...and i swear 1984 are Arctic Monkeys' alter-egos. The Monkeys should sue otherwise. Wouldnt that be apt? The "band of our generation" suing their mates. How VERY 21st century.
Milburn are worth some of your time mind. The phrase 'Pleasantly surprised' comes to mind.
Unlike with this album.
That phrase would be 'Could do better'.
yeah
I'm beginning to think that too
personally
i heard mp3 from Arctic Monkeys, Bromheads Jacket, 1984, Milburn ( and some others i forgotten, thanks Jared ) at the same time.
The only one i liked are Bromheads Jacket.
Certainly not a good band, but a FUN band.
The rest is SHIT !
But it's just me.
And stop thinking people are elitists or show-offs.
They are allowed to their own taste !
oblivious
to be honest until i bought the thing yesterday i had largely been unaware of the monkeys, but to be honest i have had it on 3 times already today and i'll probably put it back on in a sec. i am not going to state now that in 2 months (let alone this time next year) i shall still be enthralled by it it but for now it has me in a spin.
i can appreciate the lad above's comment tho, of course it isn't new or original but if it clicks then it clicks.
Hmm
I'm in an unsure position on this band. The way I see it, they're very reminiscent of a lot of other bands who've done similar things as well/better - i.e. I don't see them as deserving of anywhere near the level of hype they've gained. BUT that said, they've written a couple of ace indie disco dancefloor tunes and they're a bit of fun.
I'm sure I'd probably be cheerfully ignoring them if it wasn't for the fact that the sheer level of hype generated hadn't gotten me really riled up. As it stands, I don't mind them, but they're certainly not the saviours of modern music.
You two
Need to chill out. Shellfish needs to stop being so touchy about a band he likes and not insult en masse everyone who dislikes them, and igethitbyemokids needs to be less touchy.
For the record, people who harp on about people who don't like popular bands being indie snobs need to get a life, for fuck's sake! And also to realise that some of us like music for music's sake. I think this band's a very 5/10, 6/10 band? Does that make me an indie snob?
Still Take You Home
it's a good album, but this songs content is fucking arrogant, and not really very good. Making me think the boy is really a cock. a lot of what they say stinks of arrogance, and this nice boy image is just that.
You could be wrong
I've been an avid watcher of this band pretty much from the time their demo producer played me some stuff back in early 2004 and I've met the band a few times. Alex is a lovely and quite genuine lad. I really like him. All the band members have got quite strong family support, and I think they all have a fair dollop of common sense. From what I've heard, they are as bemused by the level of success as anyone else is. They also know how completely fragile this can be and they just wanna play lots of gigs. In a way, their situation is similar to The Prodigy in the 90s. That band just about managed to survive by ignoring the hype and constantly touring. Singificantly, Prodigy are far less popular now, but just as good musically. Hype doesn't hve to kill a band the way it seems to have killed Oasis, who are just an embarressment these days.
I dunno, reviews of this album are always gonna be tainted by the media circus, but that isn't something they've played on. I think it's a good record. I hope they can continue to write more stuff, mature, get better, they're only kids after all. There are bands around in Sheffield who are just as good, but nowhere near as popular recording brilliant songs and generally being ignored, such as Champion Kickboxer. But I don't think they mind, 'cos like AMs, they're just music fans who wanna play their own stuff.
As for the arrogant tag, hmmm... You could day the same of Morrissey or Jarvis Cocker. Maybe it reads like that to you, but I don't think you're right.
Does no-one else see
...the irony here?
What with all this name-calling - "indie snobs", "cooler than thou wankers" and whatever else. This is mainly being done by the people who like this album, but the album's called "Whatever people say I am, that's what I'm not"!!!?!!??!!
You Too?
how could anyone not love these guys! there's a certain magnetism about their music, you just keep on going back for more every time!
Good review
Spot on
The future of music? Nah
A good part of the new wave of decent British bands? Yes
.
I love this arcticle
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