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Review: Arctic Monkeys – “Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not”
"The band started playing gigs and giving out free demos in various bars and clubs around England, creating an extremely spirited and dedicated fan base in the process"
By Alex Gabriel Espinoza
The Beatles and The Rolling Stones have conquered the U.S., more recently the U.K. has given us great acts like Coldplay and Franz Ferdinand, but will the Arctic Monkeys have the same success? Youth Radio’s Alex Gabriel Espinoza says, “Something tells me that the future looks bright for these guys from across the pond.”
Arctic Monkeys, remember the name. This high-energy, alternative/indie rock band from England is looking to make a big splash in the music world with their album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.
The Arctic Monkeys feature front man Alex Turner on guitar and vocals, along with Jamie Cook (Guitar), Andy Nicholson (Bass) and Matt Helders (Drums). The origins of the band can be traced back to the Christmas holiday in 2002 when Turner and Cook received guitars as presents. The two started jamming non-stop before being joined by Nicholson and Helders, and that’s how the Arctic Monkeys came to be.
While they may be relatively unknown in the U.S., they are a full-fledged phenomenon in their native U.K. The band started playing gigs and giving out free demos in various bars and clubs around England, creating an extremely spirited and dedicated fan base in the process. Much of the band's early success can be attributed to fans sharing the band's demos over the internet. Eventually, they caught the ear of record label executives and signed with Domino Records, the same label as fellow U.K. rockers Franz Ferdinand.
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not spotlights thirteen tracks of that familiar alternative rock sound somewhat similar to Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes. The album starts with the song “The View From The Afternoon”, which features an intense intro followed by the aggressive vocals from Turner. This song showcases the fast-paced drumming, strumming and slapping sound that the Arctic Monkeys have. Near the end of the song, Cook and Turner busts out with what sounds like a guitar battle, before closing out the song in the same energetic manner in which it started.
The album maintains a rabid, raucous and rhythmic pace until the seventh song titled “Riot Van”. This mellow tune is dominated by the English-accent heavy vocals of the lead singer, telling a story about a couple boys having a run-in with the police. It’s a nice break from the wildly guitar plucking that gets to be very annoying at times.
One thing I noticed while I listened to the album was how repetitive some riffs got throughout the songs. Although this is a staple of the alternative rock style, some of the arrangements like the guitar in the song “Fake Tales of San Francisco”-- the third track of the album – have me pretty agitated by the end of the song.
“When The Sun Goes Down” was released as a single in the U.K. and it starts off very similarly to “Riot Van” before breaking out into a forceful rock-out part of the song. What I most like about this song is how the lead guitar riff and bass harmonize throughout the middle section of the piece.
This track also features Turner’s ability to tell a story throughout the song, as he tells the tales of some late-night, red-light district happenings. Something we see in other songs like “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor” and “Riot Van”.
My favorite song on the album is the final track, “A Certain Romance”. There’s the familiar, fast-paced intro just like previous tracks, before it transitions to a cheery, bounce around the room kind of sound, with an almost playful riff by Nicholson. Then the breakdown of the song, my favorite part, is when Turner and Cook play a very simple, yet melodic riff until the end of the CD.
I thought that this was a great way to finish off the album, because the last song was stuck in my head for a while after I listened to the entire album. However, instead of being an annoying Britney Spears song you heard on the radio that sticks in your head forever, I actually enjoyed playing the song over and over again in my head.
Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not is pretty good, but I wouldn’t suggest listening to the whole CD in one sitting. The speedy rhythmic guitar can really wear down your eardrums after awhile.
If you’re really into bands like The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand and Kings of Leon, and if your tolerance of the alternative rock style is high, I think you would love this CD.
The Arctic Monkeys have been labeled “The next big thing”, by various publications, and I think that this is appropriate. They’re definitely coming up at a good time, a time where alternative rock bands are topping the charts. Something tells me that the future looks bright for these guys from across the pond.
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