Arctic Monkeys
Moderator: aquaphase
Arctic Monkeys
So I heard their album last night, and I have to say.......I don't get it. It doesn't sound very good to me, not even in a sloppy rocknroll fashion. I can tell by seeing them on TV that they more than likely put on a great live show, but....I still don't get it.
I guess I'm not quite into it either... Most of the songs have an interesting erratic groove to them, but as a whole I can't quite get into the album. I've listened to it a few times and it hasn't 'clicked' yet.. granted, I've been listening to lots of long-awaited so-new-they're-not-out-yet albums recently, which could cause anything new to pale in comparison, but I just don't see the reason for the hype behind them.... then again, I rarely do with just about any 'big new band' nowdays...
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aquaphase
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I can truthfully say I have never heard a song by the Arctic Monkeys.
Depositum Custody | not with that face
Yeah....except I get the Libertines....I dunno....report back.seeing them next week so will report back. quite enjoy the album, wouldn't have put it in the top 5 of uk albums ever above the beatles or the clash but there you go... i think they came along at the right time, filling the post libertines gap that babyshambles were too fucked up to hit.
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mr_j
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http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=3721
that's the best review i've read of it. i heard the record, and it just bored me. there's nothing interesting there. to be honest, there are so many better bands that better at presenting that quirky, poppy, intense, hung-up with pent-up sexuality, and british thing....
that's the best review i've read of it. i heard the record, and it just bored me. there's nothing interesting there. to be honest, there are so many better bands that better at presenting that quirky, poppy, intense, hung-up with pent-up sexuality, and british thing....
nme tour - portsmouth mini review
arrived at venue to find our seats nicely set up for a front row view, 5 mins before the mystery jets took the stage. although you could have been confused as the repeated refrain 'zootime' sounded a lot like 'zutons'.... anyways the young kids took one side of the stage while dad took up the other side. started off with zootime and turned it into a prog rock version of black flag's 'the process of weeding out'... before hitting into the singles. nice touch. 'you can do anything thing you want as long as it makes sense' - interesting take on the world. really liked them, will probably pick up the album.
after a 20 min pause in the proceedings, time for some heads down rock action courtesy of the we are scientists gents. it kinda reminded me of placebo in places although the bass players 'cock' glasses and quality tash looked like they came from a doc sausage and the blowoffs benefit gig. they talked a lot of silly surreal talk and rocked some more. again, enjoyable enough.
so onto the third band.... arctic monkeys. thank god. they were nominated for a Brit Award and as the winners, could have turned round and said 'sorry portsmouth, we're off to get our award enjoy the other 3 bands'. but they didn't so fair play to them for that.
Having a decent viewpoint and the burning questions of the forkers board to answer, i decided to try and work out the appeal of the band first. looking around, the seats were half empty but remembering that we used to get 8-10 people with seating tickets downstairs on a regular basis with the old '4 in, 1 out, 3 more in' method, i peeked down below to see a ram packed dancefloor. yup, that's where the rest of the seated ticket holders were. audience - bit of a mix, lots of 14-20, plenty of 20-30, a few 30-40 and several 40+.
stage entrance - wander on, well more amble on, nothing fancy here. finish smoking, grab instruments, tell the crowd in a low key manner that the award's been won in the same way you might say to someone 'fancy a pint' as you're strolling up to the bar.
stage presence - to be honest, not a lot. bass player didn't move much, guitarist looked like he was concentrating hard on his guitar, drummer - well ok didn't expect a lot of movement there but there was no big presence to him. singer / guitarist - seemed almost insular, didn't talk a lot to the crowd and when he did it was very quiet. again, more of a low key banter. then again, what would you expect from a young band who have hit the big time at such an early age? give them some more time / experience and perhaps the pressure valve (understate anything so you don't appear cocky) might release itself a bit to allow some confidence to come through.
songs - watch this clip first:
http://s6.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1N2OC ... A7JORAOBXG
shot with the phone video cam so not high quality but i'd comment:
a) every fucker there was singing (except me cos i'm diligently recording it liks) along to it. last time i saw that was at finsbury park in 96 when a bunch of old punk rockers took to the stage and started playing 'bodies'.
b) the whole of the crowd below went off on one, looked more like a pit at a hardcore show. (justin - can you get the circle pit going next time)
c) if anyone texts me when i'm taking a video clip then the whole thing disappears.... bugger, no fake tales of san francisco to share.
As far as the music goes, there was more good than bad (i prefer the faster numbers when they go for it and rock out). there was a lot of space in the music compared to a lot of bands and plenty that stuck in the mind.
perhaps that's the appeal - a band who relate to their audience because they are the boys next door, in the club, pub, park etc. not someone who's talking down to you but someone who's likely to be down the front bouncing around to the next band on etc. nearest thing i've seen to oasis for a while from that point of view.
as for that review - cleverly written but lacking one essential element that was so evident on Wednesday - passion. watching the kids coming out after that show (a good proportion left without staying for the headliners, Maximo Park), you could see it in their eyes, their expressions, the jumps for joy as they met their friends outside. fork jaded hacks with their 'date rape indie' bollocks . fork the nme with their hysterical fill every page with more monkeys than last week diatribe. i hope this band gets a chance to grow and develop.
arrived at venue to find our seats nicely set up for a front row view, 5 mins before the mystery jets took the stage. although you could have been confused as the repeated refrain 'zootime' sounded a lot like 'zutons'.... anyways the young kids took one side of the stage while dad took up the other side. started off with zootime and turned it into a prog rock version of black flag's 'the process of weeding out'... before hitting into the singles. nice touch. 'you can do anything thing you want as long as it makes sense' - interesting take on the world. really liked them, will probably pick up the album.
after a 20 min pause in the proceedings, time for some heads down rock action courtesy of the we are scientists gents. it kinda reminded me of placebo in places although the bass players 'cock' glasses and quality tash looked like they came from a doc sausage and the blowoffs benefit gig. they talked a lot of silly surreal talk and rocked some more. again, enjoyable enough.
so onto the third band.... arctic monkeys. thank god. they were nominated for a Brit Award and as the winners, could have turned round and said 'sorry portsmouth, we're off to get our award enjoy the other 3 bands'. but they didn't so fair play to them for that.
Having a decent viewpoint and the burning questions of the forkers board to answer, i decided to try and work out the appeal of the band first. looking around, the seats were half empty but remembering that we used to get 8-10 people with seating tickets downstairs on a regular basis with the old '4 in, 1 out, 3 more in' method, i peeked down below to see a ram packed dancefloor. yup, that's where the rest of the seated ticket holders were. audience - bit of a mix, lots of 14-20, plenty of 20-30, a few 30-40 and several 40+.
stage entrance - wander on, well more amble on, nothing fancy here. finish smoking, grab instruments, tell the crowd in a low key manner that the award's been won in the same way you might say to someone 'fancy a pint' as you're strolling up to the bar.
stage presence - to be honest, not a lot. bass player didn't move much, guitarist looked like he was concentrating hard on his guitar, drummer - well ok didn't expect a lot of movement there but there was no big presence to him. singer / guitarist - seemed almost insular, didn't talk a lot to the crowd and when he did it was very quiet. again, more of a low key banter. then again, what would you expect from a young band who have hit the big time at such an early age? give them some more time / experience and perhaps the pressure valve (understate anything so you don't appear cocky) might release itself a bit to allow some confidence to come through.
songs - watch this clip first:
http://s6.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1N2OC ... A7JORAOBXG
shot with the phone video cam so not high quality but i'd comment:
a) every fucker there was singing (except me cos i'm diligently recording it liks) along to it. last time i saw that was at finsbury park in 96 when a bunch of old punk rockers took to the stage and started playing 'bodies'.
b) the whole of the crowd below went off on one, looked more like a pit at a hardcore show. (justin - can you get the circle pit going next time)
c) if anyone texts me when i'm taking a video clip then the whole thing disappears.... bugger, no fake tales of san francisco to share.
As far as the music goes, there was more good than bad (i prefer the faster numbers when they go for it and rock out). there was a lot of space in the music compared to a lot of bands and plenty that stuck in the mind.
perhaps that's the appeal - a band who relate to their audience because they are the boys next door, in the club, pub, park etc. not someone who's talking down to you but someone who's likely to be down the front bouncing around to the next band on etc. nearest thing i've seen to oasis for a while from that point of view.
as for that review - cleverly written but lacking one essential element that was so evident on Wednesday - passion. watching the kids coming out after that show (a good proportion left without staying for the headliners, Maximo Park), you could see it in their eyes, their expressions, the jumps for joy as they met their friends outside. fork jaded hacks with their 'date rape indie' bollocks . fork the nme with their hysterical fill every page with more monkeys than last week diatribe. i hope this band gets a chance to grow and develop.
I think eebs said it very well. The thing i find with the arctic monkeys is the effect they have on people. having been to several of their shows there is something that just happens that is magical -to me it felt like when I used to see the libertines. they are all only 19 of course, and i have only seen them in small venues and they always seemed really confortable there with really amusing banter, and what with the nme tour being their first 'big' tour in the academys they were probably a bit overwhelmed with it all, which is fair enough. The album i have to say isn't as great as it could be, but i personally have always preferred the demos because they were the versions we had all grown to know and love, and to me it's not an album i would sit down and listen to 'as an album', but I love their songs (demos) when on the bus or whatever. I too wouldn't have put the album in the top 5 albums of all time, because to me there are a lot better albums out there, but it's the effect they've had on people -young people can relate to the stories they tell about in their songs. Hype in my opinion is a killer, but i first learnt of AM in 2004 and they weren't even signed 'til over half a year later so I definitely loved them off my own accord, not because the nme told me to (no-one knew of them then!).
Speaking as an 18 year old girl (then 17), just listen to the lyrics and imagine being a teen being brought up in modern day engerland, and I think the appeal should be a lot clearer to see.
Saying this, listen to Little Man Tate!
Speaking as an 18 year old girl (then 17), just listen to the lyrics and imagine being a teen being brought up in modern day engerland, and I think the appeal should be a lot clearer to see.
Saying this, listen to Little Man Tate!
Live their music is infectious. Actually I was infected way before seeing them live.
Perhaps their music does "strike a chord with a generation", however,...not my generation as we both know. I know plenty of people who are not 15 that get the arctic monkeys.
I think they strike a musical chord with people...not a generational one. It's a style of music that's energetic and fun, lyrically interesting and groovy, and the music is very exciting.
I knew from the moment I heard them that they had "IT"...something about their sound told me they would be just where they are now, I was never surprised by their rocket to success.
Perhaps their music does "strike a chord with a generation", however,...not my generation as we both know. I know plenty of people who are not 15 that get the arctic monkeys.
I think they strike a musical chord with people...not a generational one. It's a style of music that's energetic and fun, lyrically interesting and groovy, and the music is very exciting.
I knew from the moment I heard them that they had "IT"...something about their sound told me they would be just where they are now, I was never surprised by their rocket to success.
That's what I tell my dad when he gripes about rap music, and Sam about cheesy romantic comedies about wedding dates starring Debra Messing.I guess that's just it. I'm not their audience
- Mere "target marketing is burned into my brain" 1975
"You'll have to wait until my cameo in the next season for confirmation" - eebs
"I'm one of my favorite things!" - irock
i agree that it's not a generational thing, i mean my parents love them and they're 50!Live their music is infectious. Actually I was infected way before seeing them live.
Perhaps their music does "strike a chord with a generation", however,...not my generation as we both know. I know plenty of people who are not 15 that get the arctic monkeys.
I think they strike a musical chord with people...not a generational one. It's a style of music that's energetic and fun, lyrically interesting and groovy, and the music is very exciting.
I knew from the moment I heard them that they had "IT"...something about their sound told me they would be just where they are now, I was never surprised by their rocket to success.
but what i would say is that a large part of their success is their large amount of teenage fans that feel 'connected' or whatever 
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lookout_kid
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