Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Jonny Arson

Believe the hype.

Arctic Monkeys possibly may be the most hyped up British band since Oasis but thankfully their music does all the talking on this sublime debut album. Pretty much musically only consisting of guitars, bass, drums and singer Alex Turners' yorkshire Mike Skinner-esque vocals, the album is a raw energetic stomp telling tales ranging from indie bandwagon jumpers to prostitution on Sheffield's streets.

The album kicks off with ''View From The Afternoon'' and this is only the start of a succession of in your face youthful anthems, including No.1 single ''I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'', barring the slowpaced melodic ''Riot Van''. Musically the album won't win invention awards for it's rawness but Alex Turners witty lyrics could easily lead him to be compared with a young and less miserable Morrissey.

For such a young band the confidence this album oozes with every song is quite simply outstanding. Every song on this album could potentially be a single, that's how strong this album is. Arctic Monkeys have caught the art of songwriting like no other recent band which certainly indicates that they are here for the long run.

Well the whole album is a highlight but the truly outstanding moments off this album are ''I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'', ''Fake Tales of San Francisco'', ''Dancing Shoes'', ''From The Ritz To The Rubble'' and the devine finale ''A Certain Romance'' which is likely to be the next single. Not a duff track on the album, maybe the only little fault with the album is that the guitars lack a bit of variety but that's nit picking honestly.

Where do they go from here? Only upwards, they'll get bigger and bigger but will the excessive hype be to thier detriment? Well lets hope not but lets just enjoy the music for the time being!

A classic indie/rock album..... 9/10

garthv

Absoloutely brilliant album, its been in my playlist for the past few weeks. Dont even begin to compare these to Oasis, I hate it when people do that just because they are from Manchester. Im not a big Oasis fan but these guys are absoloutely brilliant. Not a single bad song on the album

10/10

egon spengler

meh, i dont think their original and their sound imo isnt appealing. The riff to Bet you look good on the dance floor is something anyone could come up with when they first pick up a guitar. Not particularly innovative or interesting, kinda reflective of the current 80s/punk revivalist scene at the moment.

Basq

Excellent review, Zane...!

Been meaning to pick this up and most certainly will now based on this review..

.. i really do dislike "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" - but will give the album a fair chance and write a proper review for it here in the next couple of days.

carpothepunk

I absolutely love this album,one of my favourites in a long,dire time for music,ill run through it track by track

The View From The Afternoon-The album opens with the first of 6 indie rock anthems,with pounding drums and a powerful edgy guitar sound 8/10

I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor-Beautiful in its simplicity,a foot stomping head nodding anthem 10/10

Fake Tales Of San Francisco-This song grows on me everytime i listen to it,cracking lyrics,Turner is at his best in this cheeky tune 9/10

Dancing Shoes-Begins on a sea of bass and Turners Sheffield drawl,where other bands would be hitting the album fillers,the Monkeys are still busting them out! 8/10

You Probably Couldnt See For The Lights But You Were Looking Straight At Me-A long title,but this song is 2 minutes 10 seconds of pure madness,not my favourite by any means,but how could you fault it? 6/10

Still Take You Home-This songs driving heavily distorted guitar makes it sound like something out of the 80s punk scene,first of the Monkeys slut/prostitution songs:P 8/10

Riot Van-The album finally begins to slow down,with this beautiful song,that talks of a run in with the law 7/10

Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured-I dont particularly like this song,Turner seems to run out of topics to write about 5/10

Mardy Bum-This Libertines-esque song reminds us the boys can write a decent downbeat tune,a bit of variety with the guitar would be nice though 8/10

Pehaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But-This song is perhaps a big f**k you to the doubters and haters the guys have had to put up with in the last few years,perhaps some of Turners best lyrics on the album,a great song 9/10

When The Sun Goes Down-Turners witty lyrics shine through here,in the second of the guys prostitution related songs:p midway the song takes a change in tempo and it becomes a footstomping classic,my favourite song on the album 10/10

From The Ritz To The Rubble-Mike Skinner-esque song,riches to rags story,a classic bass line 8/10

A Certain Romance-Another song i would have mistaken for the Libertines had i not heard Turners voice.He talks about the change of his surrounding areas since he was a lad,this is a divine finish to a superb album 9/10

Overall id give this album a 9 and a half out of ten,the half is lost for,as zane says,the lack of variety from the guitars....Dont be harsh,this is my first review:p

Carpo

Kobayashi

GaRtH_V wrote:

Absoloutely brilliant album. Dont even begin to compare these to Oasis, I hate it when people do that just because they are from Manchester. Im not a big Oasis fan but these guys are absoloutely brilliant. Not a single bad song on the album

10/10

They're from Sheffield mate. Have to say they're not the most original I've ever heard. Not a bad album but not great either. Libertines did it better first time around

MisterAnarchy

I've listened to this album a few times and to be honest it isnt even average.
Unoriginal and uncatchy.
4/10.
Best new band of the last 10 years.
What a load of codswallop.

treefingers

i do like some of the songs on there, i'd give the album around 6.5/10.

i'm not a fan of pete doherty, but i agree with whoever up there said that the libertines are (were) a superior version of arctic monkeys. their debut much more consistent..

Fitzo

Brilliant Album:10/10

Karlusss

7/10

Listenable, head-bob can go on but...

WHY are people going so crazy about it? You might as well just cover yourself in wool. This whole operation smells of the NME checking if there's enough people in the world who haven't realised they're cack to push a band into superstardom again.

Neo#

Brilliant album! Im liking it the more and more I hear it. Are they coming to Dublin soon? Undoubtably sold out Id say.

carpothepunk

Neo#,they played the ambo last week,twice:D

Neo#

Ha Ha, no wonder I dont see any dates online. Damn! Im always too late.

Hippo

Libertines + The Streets = Arctic Monkeys

Wertz

Not usually much of a fan of this genre at all but I can't find one bad song on this title at all.
Comparisons to Skinner are well founded...that same sort of social commentary from Original Pirate Material, and the same sort of delivery, albeit without the electronic influence. The lead singer has a very distintive voice and his accent lends itself to the overall effectiveness of the songs. Fair enough, the music has probably been done in terms of structure and riffs but it's the lyrics and overall feel that deliver IMO.

High points for me are Riot Van and When the Sun goes down.
But there's more to them than this album...if you look hard out there there are maybe another 10 tracks that didn't make it to the album...my favourite of which has to be Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts.

All in all, enjoy these guys now, cos just like everything else, fame fortune and tabloids are going to destroy their magic in a short time.

Wickla in Blaa

Haven't heard it yet but will now check it out, interesting reviews guys Thanks

Stompbox

carpothepunk wrote:

Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured-I dont particularly like this song,Turner seems to run out of topics to write about 5/10

Have to disagree there Carpo mate, I absolutely love that song,one of the strongest on the album IMO

ciaran13

how come there wasnt this much fuss about razorlight last year
who are a very similar but much better band!

Johnner111

People are saying that they'll be the next Darkness, ie they'll fall into oblivion. I'm here to tell you that won't happen.:P I hated the darkness and always saw them as a novelty band with terrible music - what happened? they fell out. I don't think that about the monkeys - their album is amazing. i gotta say hats off to the drummer, the first song is uber.

carpothepunk

Sweet wrote:

Have to disagree there Carpo mate, I absolutely love that song,one of the strongest on the album IMO

Actually man,after more and more listens its growing on me,as are all the songs,as if they could do anymore:)