Now then, The Arctic Monkeys, the primates with the saucy Yorkshire accent (something = sum un). The notorious, media shy, TV snubbing band from Sheffield, England is everything a Brit rock band should be. Honestly. If you like your guitar riffs cooked in sarcasm and humour then Arctic Monkeys is the chef’s special for the whole year. They have something to say about everyone, right from chavs to meretricious women to “scummy men” to robots from nineteen eighty four.
The Arctic Monkeys are Alex Turner (Lead vocals, guitar), Nick O’Malley (bass guitar), Jamie Cook (rhythm guitar) and Matt Helders (drums, backing vocals). I have to confess that I am mildly smitten by Alex Turner but only in a fan – rock star sort of a way. His cheeky voice wrapped in that accent is one of the many factors that sets this band apart from the other contemporaries.
The rad thing about the band is their confidence in their music. Good thing they did not bother signing up with a record label or else we would have ended up listening to musically bowdlerised versions of their songs. The reason for their phenomenal success (overnight success really) can be attributed to their fans. Rather than having record labels do the marketing and campaigning, they allowed free downloads of their music. So whenever they performed at gigs they had their massive fan base singing along to their songs. Name the number one Arctic Monkeys sing along song? When The Sun Goes Down. They normally kick start their gig with this song and the fans sing along the entire song. Oh how I would love to see them perform. I definitely qualify as a fan. I even have that song memorized. The song was originally titled Scummy Man. (And what a scummy man/Give him half a chance/ And he will rob you if he can/ And he’s got a driving ban among some other offences).
Every song of the Arctic Monkeys has so many high points that it is impossible for me to list all of them here. Take for example, The View from the Afternoon. Do I talk about the sensational beats of the song (which have been very nicely highlighted in the song’s music video as well) or do I talk about the lyrics (For disappointment in evening entertainment/but tonight there will be some lurrrrrve) or the way Turner says the word “but” in “but tonight there will be some lurrrrrve”? Think Mardy Bum and think primer on UK slang (now then mardy bum/I see you’re frowning/It’s like looking down the barrel of a gun).
I find their first single I Bet You Look Good on the Dance floor very fascinating. I keep wondering what the dreams o nortiness consist of. The I Bet You…video is nothing more than an amateur gig vid and yet watching the band take it from the top is nothing less than enthralling. Check them out working their way across the entire length of the fret board, applying pressure across the various points along the neck of the poor guitar. Result, needless to say, is awesome. Translate that into Billboard lingo and you’d know that I Bet You Look Good on the Dance floor went straight to UK#1.
With so many straight rocket number ones to their credit little wonder their album Whatever People Say I am, that’s What I Am Not won the Grammy Best Alternative Music Album this year.
Just one album and two EPs old The Arctic Monkeys have achieved what the other contemporaries could not achieve even with their flashy gigs and jazzy vids.
Time for me to go now. Megha signing out now, dancing to electro pop like a robot from nineteen eighty fourrrr….
Rating: *****
Discography:
Album
2006 Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
- The View from the Afternoon
- I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
- Fake Tales of San Francisco
- Dancing Shoes
- You Probably Couldn’t See For the Lights But You Were Staring Straight at Me
- Still Take You Home
- Riot Van
- Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured
- Mardy
- Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But All You People Are Vampires
- When the Sun Goes Down
- From the Ritz to the Rubble
- A Certain Romance!
EP
2005 Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys
2006 Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys
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