As promised in Thursday's post I've taken great pleasure this afternoon in writing a few words on the new Arctic Monkey's album AM. Had to wait five days for the darn CD to arrive and then immediately uploaded it on to my laptop making me truly appreciate just why no one buys CDs anymore, if I'd downloaded it I could have done the exact same thing for free and got it on the day it came out with absolutely no drop in sound quality - the album picture might still have even popped up on my iTunes. Instead I spent 9 quid to twiddle my thumbs for five days.
Anyway the problem subsisted and now I'm here with Alex Turner crooning 'Do I wanna Know' in my ear and I'm bloody loving it. If I could compare the Arctic Monkeys to any band of a past generation then listening to this, their fifth LP in just seven years, I would probably have to shout the Rolling Stones. The Stones started out as a protest band but it wasn't much time before they developed into an outfit developing records which were far more sexy than they were angry. Having a little listen to the masterpiece that is the Monkey's debut Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not, the development draws many a similarity. While once upon a time Turner was penning lyrics about being thrown out of grotty Sheffield dive bars, the boys are now based in LA, sporting teddy boy haircuts and producing songs with titles like 'No1 Party Anthem' and 'Why Do You Only Call Me When You're High'. Does it matter? Course it fucking doesn't because the music remains simply fantastic.
We knew exactly what to expect having already been treated to opener 'Do I wanna Know' and singles 'R U Mine' and the aforementioned 'Why Do You Only Call Me...' but each of the other new tracks delivers its own little piece of happiness, be it with a cheeky lyric, a riff of pure originality or one of Matt Helder's trademark drum solos (plus way way more of his beloved falsetto). And the brains behind it all... Mr Turner. If You didn't know it already, Alex Turner is an absolute lyrical genius. I read and strongly agreed with a review of the album the other day which claimed he has an unfounded ability to find rhyme in the middle of a sentence where other songwriters simply wouldn't have a clue, 'I'm sorry to interrupt it's just I'm constantly on the cusp of trying to kiss you' is a prime example. This gives each melody it's own unique Monkeys feel and sets a tone for something new in every crevice of his work. For me, he leaves his best lyrical prowess for last, producing scintillating metaphor after metaphor in perfect closer 'I Wanna Be Yours' - 'If you like your coffee hot/Let me be your coffee pot' etc.etc. These lyrics challenge my previous favourite Monkey's metaphor - 'Your rarer than a can of dandelion and burdock/and those other girls are just post-mix lemonade'.
Lyrics aside, 'Mad Sounds' finds the Monkeys at their most touching and is probably the most anthemic of the tunes, alongside the wonderfully titled 'No.1 Party Anthem' of course, both of which sound like they were ripped straight off Turner's EP for the Richard Ayoade directed Submarine (another work of absolute genius from the Sheffielder, where does he get his time from). 'Knee Socks' features vocals and production from Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and a riff to die for alongside a slightly fresher poppier feel while earlier on in the LP there's Arabella' and FUCK ME IT'S A TUNE. Each instrumental addition is bathed with funk and the chorus has to be one of the best these guys have ever produced, moment of the album for me has to be the pre-chorus in which two sliding chords cut across Turner's claim that 'My days end best when this sunset gets itself' before launching into 'As Arabellllaaaaaaaa'.
What this album has confirmed is that the Monkeys can really do what the fuck they want and keep on and on producing LPs of better and better quality. Some are saying that this is only the beginning and connecting this record with the first in terms of its importance for the band but on this point I strongly disagree and point to the strength and success of the three albums which came in between. There is however a layer of fresh maturity on top of AM which has guaranteed the critical acclaim along with the mass album and single sales ('Why Do You Only Call Me...' reached no.8 in the UK charts, no mean feat for a guitar band in 2013).The hope and moreover the assumption is that the Monkeys continue to release LPs of this calibre and as prolifically as they have been over the past few years. I don't doubt it, and what I also don't doubt is that if this is to be the case then there's no reason why in thirty years time we can't be talking about them in the same terms as we're talking about the Stones in 2013... we can certainly begin to compare Turner with Jagger. And who wouldn't love to see the Arctic Monkeys headlining Glastonbury 2043?
Many thanks as always for reading as I've certainly enjoyed writing.
Max
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