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Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield on 14 August 2002. The group consists of lead singer Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O'Malley. Former bassist Andy Nicholson left the band in 2006 shortly after their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, was released.
- 2002–present
- Andy Nicholson
- Sheffield, England
Discover the latest news, music, videos and tour dates of Arctic Monkeys, the rock band behind the new album 'The Car'. Pre-order now.
Watch the official videos of Arctic Monkeys, the indie rock band from Sheffield. Listen to their new album, The Car, and get tickets for their live shows.
- Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts
- Pretty visitors
- One Point Perspective
- Arabella
- Riot Van
- Only Ones Who Know
- She Looks Like Fun
- Why’d You only Call Me When You’Re High?
- Suck It and See
- I Bet You Look Good on The Dancefloor
Arctic Monkeys skilfully navigated the path from observers of everyday life to success on a scale that means you no longer have an everyday life to observe. Nevertheless, a certain parochial charm was lost along the way, as evidenced by this early B-side, a sharp, barkingly funny tale of secondary school romantic woe.
Alex Turner’s lyrics understandably attract the most attention, but Matt Helders’ taut, explosively powerful drumming is Arctic Monkeys’ secret weapon. Certainly he’s the key ingredient in Pretty Visitors, relentlessly driving the song through a series of rhythmic twists; the frantic but precise series of rolls he plays 30 seconds in are jaw-droppi...
You can see why the foggy, slow-motion sound of their 2018 album Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino confounded some Arctic Monkeys fans, but there are moments of straightforward pleasure amid the opacity, not least One Point Perspective’s satire of a jaded rock star: “I’m gonna run for government / I’m gonna form a covers band an’ all.”
Turner’s writing became wracked with lust towards the end of the 00s. Arabella is a supreme example of him in bedazzled lover man mode – he somehow gets away with referring to the object of his attentions as his “little lady”. The chorus’s Black Sabbath-y guitar stabs (specifically reminiscent of War Pigs) are magnificent.
Riot Van offers a brilliant framing of adolescent ennui, setting the tale of a gobby teenager’s run-in with the police to music that sounds like a sigh or a diffident shrug. The shorter, more lyrically pointed version from their much-fileshared collection of early demos, Beneath the Boardwalk, is the one to hear.
Favourite Worst Nightmare is by far Arctic Monkeys’ most uneven album; you can hear the effort involved in trying to move on from their record-breaking debut. But they sometimes succeed in style: Only Ones Who Know is a gentle, fond drawing of a couple in love, with a beautiful melody.
Social media is a topic well worn to the point of weariness but – backed by what sounds like the AM-era Arctic Monkeys sound falling to pieces – Turner’s take is funny, original and packs one of the great aphorisms of the Instagram age: “Dance as if somebody’s watching, ’cause they are”.
The most coherent and powerful Arctic Monkeys album since their debut, AM attracted attention for its heavy guitar sound, but the primary influence on Why’d You Only Call Me … is clearly R&B – there’s a distinct hint of early 00s Destiny’s Child about its staccato riff. Unlikely inspiration maybe, but it works.
“You’re rarer than a can of dandelion and burdock / And those other girls are just post-mix lemonade,” Turner sings winningly on a song that, equally winningly, matches the kind of melody you would find on a late-60s easy-listening pop hit to a mass of trebly, echoing guitars.
The brilliance of I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor may lie in the disparity between the tone of the lyrics – wryly detached, even as they’re ogling a girl at a local indie club – and the tone of the music, which sounds like said club night at its frenzied peak.
- 5 min
- Alexis Petridis
- ‘Teddy Picker’ In case you’re a bit confused as to the meaning of its title — as I was when I first heard it — the “teddy picker” refers to a claw machine, symbolizing pick-me people who will do anything for fame.
- “Red Light Indicates Doors are Secure” One day, there will be a jukebox musical based on Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. It’ll be set in a working-class Sheffield club, and the “Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured” number will be the sleeper hit of the show.
- ‘Secret Door’ This high-drama Humbug tune is a smart and effusive love story, in which Turner reflects on getting romantically entangled with a famous woman.
- ‘R U Mine?’ The first sign AM was going to be one of Arctic Monkeys best albums came well over a year before the album was even announced. Released in 2012, “R U Mine?”
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Sep 30, 2022 · Arctic Monkeys in 2006 (with original bassist Andy Nicholson, far right). Photograph: Jo Hale/Getty Images He seems unsure just how much of himself was in the mic-dropping rock star.
