Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
I never know what I think of the Arctic Monkeys. The first album didn’t really grab me, although I loved the lyrics, until a good friend told me to go back and listen again because it was brilliant. I duly did so, loved it for a good while, and then slowly cooled again.
The first couple of tracks from this one had me all excited, thinking this could be really brilliant. I heard the album, was disappointed, changed my mind to think it was brilliant and now I’m not so sure again. I think they’re like this, the Arctic Monkeys: sort of a permanent oscillation. They’re way better than a good band, but nothing like as good as a great one, and as soon as Unbridled Rock ‘n’ Roll Joy Toad has a few beers and starts to get too full of himself, Sensible Worldly Toad arches a quizzical eyebrow, sips a gin and takes an ironic draw on a big fat Cuban. That said, if Worldly Toad gets a tad too ironically superior for his own good, Rock Toad turns up the stereo, pisses on his shoes and dances all night with the prettiest girls in the joint.
So, expect more of Alex Turner’s genuinely superior lyrical talent. Expect more choppy, joyful guitar melodies that pep up their classic indie rock sound with funky changes and danceable bounciness. Expect a few more melancholy introspective numbers. Expect to be able to play this at virtually any party and have people love it. But don’t expect to be blown away by the brilliance.
I wish I could remember where I read it, but someone recently said that Oasis were the death of indie because you had White Van Man and introverted indie obsessives in love with the same music. I can’t quite articulate why this meant indie was dead, but it feels right nonetheless. The Arctic Monkeys have a similar problem – I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor was a perfect embodiment of this phenomenon. Please don’t tell me these lads are the new Oasis.
So to, erm, recap that rather incoherent collection of random thoughts, do not expect an unprecedented maelstrom of indie genius, because for all the Arctic Monkeys are really good, they definitely aren’t great. I sometimes find myself blaming them for this, because they’re so close it can be frustrating that they seem to never quite take that last step, but ultimately if you ignore the hype and fuss surrounding them then you can really enjoy a solid, enjoyable and intelligent addition to any true indie kid’s record collection.
Arctic Monkeys – Brianstorm Alright, confession time: who else out there instinctively changed the name of that song to ‘Brainstorm’ when it first came out, assuming that the person who ripped the first surreptitious copy off the radio had made a typo? Just me then? Arse.
Arctic Monkeys – Balaclava
While I didn’t think the first album was “brilliant” I thought it was fresher than 99% of what was out there. The boys did what a good rock group is supposed to do: take the stuff they love, steal from it, toss it through their own taffy machine and process something new.
When I heard that their follow up was coming out one scant year later I thought, well, this is gonna be like The Cars/Candy-O. A lot more of the same. But, what’s wrong with that? We liked the first album just fine. Trouble with msuic being as subjective and proprietary as it is is that when a band makes a great or good first album, then follows it up with a mirror album, the reaction from many fans and critics is: Ah, well, more of the same. But when they change speeds and directions on the follow-up, people get pissed at that as well. It’s a no win scenario, unless you are Queen and you include 9 different styles on one album, so pigeonholing is nigh impossible.
I don’t love Nightmare. I like it just fine. It’s catchy and bouncy and a neat little rekkid.
Perhaps we should just be thankful that these exist in a world of so much pablum that is excreted by record companies.
Love the site.
I can be the same myself, if I’m honest. Really it just depends on how much you like what you hear. If you dislike something its amazing how many different ways you can come up with to make ‘I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would’ sound deep, intellectual, analytical or god knows.
I liked this record, I enjoy listening to it. But as a friend of mine said – the very friend who loves the Arctic Monkeys, in fact – no-one reads the 3 out of 5 reviews. Well this is one of those ‘really good, but not earth-shattering’ reviews that no-one wants to read.
“who else out there instinctively changed the name of that song to ‘Brainstorm’ when it first came out, assuming that the person who ripped the first surreptitious copy off the radio had made a typo?”
Worse. I only realised it was called Brianstorm and not Brainstorm a couple of weeks after it came out :/
Ouch – I only realised when I saw the cover artwork for the first time. You know when you look at something and something feels slightly wrong, but you aren’t sure what. And then there’s that horrible dawning realisation that you’ve been a bit of a tit…