Review Summary: (I find myself) "Crawling back to you."
There’s certainly something special about the Arctic Monkeys that I don’t find in other indie rock type bands. The young Englishmen aren’t even very technical or “re-inventing the wheel” in their abilities. However, it’s their catchiness, wit, and charisma that brings an eager smorgasbord of fun and replay value across their discography. Alex Turner’s lyrical input can easily be considered one of the shining poets of this generation of rock music and are a key reason the Arctic Monkeys have acquired so many fans. Starting at such a young age and being able to perform better than musicians a decade older than them, they were sure for success.
They haven’t been scared to change up their sound while still remaining accessible, yet tasteful, something that I admire. The debut was a loose concept album filled with post-punk hooks which then led to the band’s second album, “Favourite Worst Nightmare”, a focused onslaught of infectiously loud, fast, and melodic indie craftsmanship. Both albums of which were massive hits in the UK. With Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age in the picture, the group frantically slowed their sound and has been influenced by his production work most present in, “Humbug”, a dark and powerful psychedelically tinged record. From that on, what would be the only real disappointment from the band was the dream-pop inspired, “Suck it and See.” Indeed, I was “seeing some sucking” due to sheer lazy songwriting on a number of the tracks on that album. The production and style on paper looked well, but the Arctic Monkeys were lackluster compared to the rest of their discography. Which finally brings us to the recent album, AM, to which we heard the first single, “R U Mine?” a song/style that would’ve helped “Suck it and See” a lot with its vocals and fantastic drumming from Matt Helders.
Alex Turner describes the album, "Like a Dr Dre beat, but we've given it an Ike Turner bowl-cut and sent it galloping across the desert on a Stratocaster.” Well explained if I do say so myself. AM reminds me of what happened to The Beatles, in the sense that the environment of the United States started to change up their sound significantly. The album is a big bass monster of bumping grooves and seductive guitar licks. It kind of takes from what “Suck it and See” tried to do but things got heavier in production and we still have some slight psychedelic and haunting elements from “humbug” to create what newer Arctic Monkeys fans have been wanting for. The whole album is a stoner pop-garage rock fiasco of badass and gloomy hooks, that of an environment equaling walking down a neon lit up city in the middle of a desert. Lyrical themes reminding of the debut album, dealing with night life and the sort, only this time we’re being given more of a mindset of Turner’s relationships with love directly this time.
The lead single, “Do I Wanna Know” features a gigantic soul-stealing riff that can’t be held back combined with the deathly smacking spaced out beat “ at least as deep as the Pacific Ocean” that Nick O’Malley provides and is popular for good reason. Lyrically, we’re taking a baby step down from previous albums, however I do feel the over complication of what Turner usually provides wouldn't suit the tone of the album and what it is going for as much. Nonetheless, they still have a lot to offer in the future and this shouldn't be a sign of lyrics being downplayed in the further records to be done. Take a look at one of the highlight tracks off the album, “Fireside.” We still have some sincere emotion behind Turner’s new found stated persona. It’s some powerful words that feature the nature of bull*** love antics that humans give. It follows along with a theme of all the other songs in the album, which is the blues of protecting your frustrated emotions when love is walking the plank.
“And I thought I was yours, forever
Or maybe I was mistaken
But I just cannot manage
To make it through the day without thinking of you lately”
The entire album relies heavily on choruses and hooks, which is good or bad depending on what you're looking forward to. I personally think it's done in good taste due to the tracks not being annoyingly infectious. They are catchy and shouldn't make anyone fuss. The middle of the album helps to keep the album interesting though and not on the same note. The ironically titled, “No.1 Party Anthem” breaks the album off sweetly from the smooth hard rock with a slow acoustic ballad. It's paired with its counterpart, “Mad Sounds” which evolves into a blissful and melodic fantasy of Jamie Cook’s guitar and a silly but joyful bridge. It may help to relieve the brought about pain some of the wandering and romantically failed lyrics Turner gave you, or in other words from the track “One for the Road”, the “Soundtrack to Disaster.”
The past few efforts have all been some fantastic hits besides the last album being a pop fly, but this one is a home run that doesn’t sacrifice its indie swagger for some extra accessibility. Whether it be the infectious chorus that “Why’d you only call me when you’re high” brings to the table or the operatic /falsetto vocals that Josh Homme atmospherically wails, by the time the small town drunken and sonically spacy closer “I Wanna be Yours” ends, you’ll feel your fix of wanting to drink a quart of coffee through a hollow cigar just to suffice the terror of not being able to listen to the music all the time (okay, maybe a tad dramatic.) A fantastic modern rock record to have in your collection that anyone can enjoy.
