The new cynics

(Morning Star, Saturday 04 February 2006)

ALBUM: Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
(Domino)

KIRSTIE MAY introduces us to new rock upstarts the Arctic Monkeys, a Sheffield four-piece with a nice line in snappy lyrics and top tunes.

If you don't know who the Arctic Monkeys are, you must have been burying your head in the sand.

They are a critically lauded, recently successful band with a nice line in snappy lyrics and rocking tunes.

But, if that's all you know, you're still pretty clueless, because there's so much more.

Like a gang of little scoundrels who besiege your local offy, these four Sheffield boys have something of the glue sniffer about them.

Graduates of the school of junkie youth, like a Busted put together by Pete Doherty, Alex Turner and pals are dirty and dour, displaying a disenchantment and cynicism far beyond their average 19 years.

Their first single, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, was number one with a bullet off the back of a guerilla net campaign.

The song soundtracks a hundred school discos - sweaty and sordid, mindful of its own youth.

Dancefloor's chart success was echoed by its follow-up When the Sun Goes Down, a tale of hookers and horror in the north, ruled by a riff straight out of Keef's back catalogue.

The album clearly has a lot to live up to - the success of the singles means that the eyes of the music world are fixed on their every move - and there are already detractors baying for their demise.

But, take a step back from all of this superfluous journo opining and the fact remains that the Arctic Monkeys are just a very good band.

Maybe you don't like Turner's disinterested vocal, particularly on the sweet Mardy Bum.

That's your choice, of course, but bear in mind that he is merely aping the misanthropic Dylan at his most churlish.

Maybe singing in Yorkshire accents pisses you off, although the band themselves prize that honesty above all, as detailed in Fake Tales of San Francisco, a warning tale for indie poseurs everywhere.

Maybe you feel that their better-than-chav style is unpalatable, as they clearly have roots in that culture. Witness A Certain Romance, the album highlight.

Rolling in with a heavy drum sound, the song itself displays a ska tempo, the backdrop to a tale of two tribes destined not to see eye-to-eye.

But Turner's detailing of the differences creates a "them and us" scenario, that we know better than smashing people's heads in down the Red Lion, as much good as this knowledge does us.

When people say they like good music, it's often because they like a nice tune or the singer's got good hair.

But it takes effort and passion to like the Arctic Monkeys, because that's what they deserve.