It was never going to be plain sailing was it? Arctic Monkeys burst onto the scene in 2006 with two number one singles, the fastest-selling debut album in British music history and the highly sought after Mercury music prize for good measure. Not bad for a band that started "because it were just something to do'. Media frenzy ensues. The band are heralded as saviours of British pop music, politicians are name dropping them for the 'down with the kids' vote and who could forget Peter Crouch's 'I Bet You Look Good...' inspired robotic World Cup celebrations?
Fast forward just over a year later and the band return with 'Brianstorm', a song that is far from bad but just felt like a heavier rehashed version of 'A View From the Afternoon'. Instead of the promo video displaying the originality of their past efforts (i.e. 'Leave Before The Lights Come On') we were greeted with some jiggy R'n'B Hype Williams knock off. Top marks for not trying indeed.
Saying that, it isn't all bad news in the Arctic Monkeys camp - far from it. As these freshly leaked tracks display, Alex Turner has lost none of his lyrical dexterity and the fresh production duties coming from Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford aren't as worrying as Klaxon's debut might have led you to believe. '505' with its haunting organ is beautiful, adventurous and hopefully a good sign of things to come.
Whether ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare' will stand up to success of 'Whatever People Say I Am...' remains to be seen. What is clear is that it's going to be a damn site better than hearing fucking Muse on the radio all day.
‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ is released on Domino Records on 23rd April and is preceeded by the single ‘Brianstorm’ on the 18th April. The Arctic Monkeys are confirmed as one of this year’s headliners for Glastonbury and are also playing 2 massive outdoor shows at Lancashire CCC. Here's a preview of the new album.
Arctic Monkeys - 'The Bad Thing'
Arctic Monkeys - 'If You Were There - Beware'
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1 comment:
very entertainingly written article. good stuff. liking it
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