brits: explain arctic monkeys

OK, so who amongst us is popping out lunchtime to buy the Arctic Monkeys album?

-- mcd

You lucky lucky people.

also, significantly, they follow in a great tradition of british working class 'realism' (cf. loneliness of a long distance runner/coronation street/alan bennet/the clash), parochial in nature, alien to outsiders.

What it says about music in the UK in a wider sense.... *shrugs*

america gave us good charlotte.

I thought Robbie Williams was pretty cute when he tried to "break" over here. We didn't get him either.

Innit, there can barely be a country on the planet where boring rock music isn't wildly popular

How many albums do The White Stripes, The Strokes or The Yeah Yeah Yeahs actually sell in their homeland?

You might want to look at some of these articles for basic "explanations" of the phenomenon:
http://search.ft.com/search/totalSearch_Form.html?vsc_appId=ts&symb=&ftsite=FTCOM&searchtype=equity&vsc_query=arctic+monkeys&searchOption=news&x=18&y=10

(although you'll need to subscribe to read)

Maybe one of the more poppy things. I know this is kind of your area so I'm quite worried about the result being something of a letdown, but that was the thing that stuck with me after I'd passed the CD on to someone else

I meant the music, obviously the lyrics and identity are very specifically from northern England. Whether people, especially Americans, can get past that is another matter

Working class? Alan Bennett? Joe Strummer?

The hype is irritating but just 'cos something is hyped doesn't mean it's no good.

Incidentally, I've said this before but - if they remind me of anyone stateside, it's Kings of Leon. Esp. the accents obviously. And they are nothing remotely like Oasis. Thank fck.

no-one's been working class since 1945 anyways.

Bollocks

welfare state yo.

that wasn't my intention at all! i'm just curious.

Not you Fritz! I like your curiousity!

would it be more than the record that fiddy or nsynch holds for first week sales?

I suppose people are inclined to hate things they fear/have no experience of

Hey yeah, and the only thing offered on this thread is a city and a record label I've never heard of.

I know people get mad at me when I say "can we talk about the music please" but there's a reason after all...

the british equivalent of 50 cent is twenty pence piece, a happy grimecore outfit from plymouth who sample rachel stevens and faust.

xpost/i was about to ask that fritz

This may be reductive.

Yes, sorry. That was for Fritz's benefit to a certain extent. They sound more garagey and raw than people seem to be giving them credit for, albeit in a manner that suggests they aren't consciously aiming for this. It would all be great if they actually wrote memorable tunes

Since when was 50cent catchy? It's like listening to a log rap.

i remember the 50 cent record-breaking sales were predicted for weeks before it came out, though i think it was still a bit of a surprise that it was so close to a million in the first week

Busted - love them in theory but don't enjoy their music
McFly - love them in theory and one of their songs and in fact love them even more because they're so mediocre (Cis will back me up) and cos Dougie is fit
The Faders - OK but kinda whatevs
The Veronicas - who?

Dom is completely wrong! But I don't think any Americans are being taken in by his 'wacky' comparisons anyway. No one thinks that listening to the Arctic Twats will make them tough.

I suppose people are inclined to hate things they fear/have no experience of

Aha, but what about the undisputed existence of indie girls? (I was going to link to GIS for "indie girls", but, er NSFW.

What did I tell you?

Mix these ghastly bands together: The Libertines + Razorlight + Vines + Neds Atomic Dustbin + sham 69 + Bluetones + mega city 4

Neds Atomic Dustbin - Beyond terrible image, and went awfully 'prog-metal' in the end but not half as bad as people make out. Probably the closest tangenital equivalent to the Arctic Monkeys as far as appeal + 17yr old subject matter goes, but with far, far dumber lyrics and less well-structured music, thrash without focus mostly.

It's not just the UK. The record enters the Dutch album chart at 9 this week, which is unheard of for anything remotely resembling a UK "indie" band.

For all their stiff-upper-lip stoicism, the British go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs over any native band that can gin up three chords and an attitude. The latest kings of England are the Arctic Monkeys, four lads who got guitars for Christmas in 2001, mastered them quickly, toured the country and handed out home-burned CDs of songs that were then uploaded to the unsigned-band portal MySpace.com Their following metastasized to the point that the band sold out the famed London Astoria last year on word of mouth. When a record-company bidding war ensued, the Arctic Monkeys signed with independent label Domino for a tidy sum and in January released their debut album in Britain, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, which not only is the fastest-selling British debut ever but was also voted by readers of the influential New Musical Express as the fifth greatest British album--of ALL TIME!-- topping, among others, the Beatles' Revolver and the Clash's London Calling.

The instinctive response to this outbreak of British euphoria is condescension. (It's fun to switch cultural roles once in a while, no?) Americans who don't love music can sniff at the band's impossible youth--two of the Arctic Monkeys are 19, two are 20--and refrigerator-poetry name. Music lovers need only glance at dusty albums by Oasis, Super Furry Animals, the Prodigy and Bloc Party to remind themselves that the Brits routinely mistake mediocrity for greatness. Here's the thing, though: this time there's no mistake. Whatever People Say I Am, due out in the U.S. on Feb. 21, isn't perfect, but it's a great rock album that spotlights a new lyricist who is whip smart, funny and appealingly dangerous. He does a lot to restore faith in rock's future.

The music itself makes no great claims to originality. The Arctic Monkeys' lo-fi guitar jags are cribbed from the Strokes and Franz Ferdinand (who cribbed them from Lou Reed and Television and so on), and the band's ska rhythms and martial drums come courtesy of the Clash. But singer-guitarist Alex Turner, guitarist Jamie Cook, drummer Matt Helders and bassist Andy Nicholson play with a swagger that obliterates any trace of ancestor worship. They aren't referencing anything as they fly through tunes like The View from the Afternoon; they're just playing as many hooks as possible, as fast and as cleanly as they can.

Turner's voice is dry and laconic, and he seldom strays from his middle range, but flourishes would only distract from some of the best lyrics ever written by someone who still lives with his parents. On the punk hurricane I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, he yelps, "Oh, there ain't no love, no, Montagues or Capulets/ Just banging tunes in DJ sets and/ Dirty dance floors and dreams of naughtiness," while the song title You Probably Couldn't See for the Lights but You Were Staring Straight at Me gets a laugh on its own. Turner is particularly good at setting scenes at the top of songs--"Up rolled the riot van/ And sparked excitement in the boys/ But the policemen look annoyed/ Perhaps these are ones they should avoid"--and with each couplet he swings between disgust at and tolerance of the boozy, materialistic and louche world around him. On the standout A Certain Romance, Turner looks around the pub and begins, "Oh they might wear classic Reeboks/ Or knackered Converse/ Or tracky bottoms tucked in socks/ But all of that's what the point is not/ The point's that there isn't no romance around there." But by the end of the song, he admits that a lot of those hopeless, materialistic and thoroughly sauced people are his friends and that "They might overstep the line/ But you just cannot get angry in the same way."

Whatever People Say I Am is the sound of smart kids doing stupid things, with a dawning recognition that maybe life has more to offer than drinking and hooking up. Perhaps the best thing about it is that it has no interest in speaking to anyone over 30. It's great for family dynamics that parents and kids can listen to Coldplay together, but it's a terrible thing for rock 'n' roll, which needs rebellion to survive. (Ever wonder why hip-hop is doing so well?) Parents will be freaked by Turner's wry narration of a life that could go either way, but kids will hear someone speaking their language, if not their dialect.

FF =art school rock

artic monleys = Lads/townie indie

I think it's a bit OTT to hate on current UK rock in general from the perspective of being a dance music fan, considering that both are so close to and connected with one another at the moment. I suppose Arctic Monkeys are less shiny than Franz or The Killers, but the Sugababes version of "I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor" makes me think (among other things) we need a dance version of the original to really triangulate things.

so does this mean that if i like 50 then ill like the arctic monkeys? or would that require my english doppelganger liking 50?

Who is Robyn? Who is Bloc Party? (I don't think those two match at all...)

the idea that townies/lads are *poor people* is outdated and simplistic. it seems to be something that works as a handy signifier in class debates, but doesn't bare any relation to reality

its true that i dont know to what extent FF do market themselves as "arty" as opposed to "down the pub", but thats why i phrased as a question.

(a graphic designer has convinced me of this)

i still prefer ver franz.

cf. gomez

i will restate that:

i recognized a member of gomez, once.

So there's a feeling that The Arctic Monkeys, conversely, WILL endure ala Oasis? Because....they're not 'arty'?

Of course AM won't out-live Franz particularly because sex & drugs and the fact that they're dulldulldull in interviews will kill them. They will ot exist as "celebrities" and hence will fade. What's kept Oasis going? Demographic? Fanbase? Or coverage?

X-post; bobie tidday - Um, they're not just another "shitty little band" - ignore the music and the cultural impact surely makes them a discussion topic?

What's kept Oasis going?

Sheer bloody-mindedness.

Unless one of them manages to attract a Hollywood actress, perhaps.

I don't get why.

Plus I'd argue that even from an arbitrary point of view there's surely as much life and passion in the choruses to a lot of Robyn's tracks as there is in the AMs.

Not a pop star except for those massive hits she had years back and the ones she wrote for other people then?

but 'Arctic Monkeys are interesting because people are talking about them because they're interesting because people are talking about them' is just not satisyfing somehow.

Why has Robyn sold fuck all? Because nobody knows who she is?
Why does nobody know who she is? Bad promotion?

Robyn is net-hyped fake-pop that no one cares about except people online and even then only, like, five people.

Like the Arctic Monkeys a year ago!

Surely Robyn does have chart appeal? Surely she should be in the charts? Why she isn't is one of the most interesting questions for me.

The Mega City Four comparison is also interesting. She's not the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah then?

I can't add more now cos I'm shit busy and about to go for lunch, but I should have time tis afternoon.

She isn't in the charts outside of Sweden because her record hasn't been released internationally yet. Case closed!

so why did they both do a tune with the same name? is it a marketing skam?

what is robyn? isnt this the same as annie? ie wants to be a chart pop star but unfortunately got picked up by the wrong label and was marketed to hipsters instead?

isnt it "the artic monkeys are interesting becasue some of these crit-people actually like a rock band for once also shit loads of real people like them too"

i just think theyre interesting cos theyre from sheffield really.

People can have sex appeal without having sex.

I still enjoy the Robyn album more personally, even if it is less "interesting". Which it might be, but there's more to it (pop) than that I reckon.

I am tetchy, aye, because I'm having to fill in stupid fucking forms explaining to my employers what my job is.

Sorry Nick, sounds crap :(

Do you direct or guide casual staff or temps?

FUCK OFF ALREADY

I base it on hearing her songs and thinking 'wow this should be #1'. Why do I think that? Mainly because of the large number of female artists doing similar (but inferior) things and being successful with it.

Depends if your definition revolves solely around commercial results I suppose. Which may or may not be another debate entirely.

Was this always an issue? Are you calling Sophie Ellis-Bextor an skanky ho? Mind you she probably wouldn't get in the top ten now.

SEB got in through singing over the top of positiva records.
rachel stevens was in er...that other girl group.
i cant explain goldfrapps success. in fact, i still sort of dont believe that they are popular, thats why i failed to get tickets and its sold out - i thought no one would go really.

< /idealist crazzee person >

England is not the world, Nick.

< /idealist crazzee person >

good thing you added that disclaimer at the end there

(x-post)

Robyn also, crucially, isn't something that "ver kids" can identify with.

That's irrelevant or should be. If Anastasia, Imbruglia, Ellis-Bextor and several other lone pop women can get in the charts so should Robyn with her often superior songs. Whatever is opposing that needs removing I think. Maybe it is just timing but still.

But this doesn't really explain why it got picked up by BBC Radio so eagerly and something like 'Be Mine' hasn't. On what basis are people (the station controllers? the critics? the honest record-downloading British public?) deciding one is worth pushing and the other not? It all seems very flimsy and fickle, but maybe only semi-conscious (laziness/complacency?).

i don't think robyn's hype-levels are anywhere near even annie's.

but B&S still get in the top 20! of course they built their devoted fanbase on the internet...

Nizlopi got picked up precisely because of cutesiness and twee! And their success is largely down to the video, which got emailed around massively in the last quarter of last year to officeworkers and the like, and because it was a nostalgia-twee tune about officeworkers remembering being kids, it got passed on and on ad infinitum!

but my argument is not really hingeing on this. obv. quality by critical consensus has no definitive rule over chart placings.

Even critical consensus doesn't determine "quality"...

Even critical consensus doesn't determine "quality"

No but it ascertains it, and often very well (unless we're tumbling down the 'no good or bad art' track here).

It feels like the Arctic Monkeys had fans before they had critics, although it took the latter's enthusiastic faction to push them up in this way. As usual I see NME as being the leaders in that process.

Whereas Robyn, Annie and their ilk operate vice versa - their critics ARE their fans, but that seems to be where it ends. I'm still interested in the real reasons why that is.

Europhobia! Casual Misogyny! Pervading Pro-Rock (And Pro Token Black) Agenda! Mismanagement!

just some suggestions

Personality works very differently in different genres.

Personality has been cited as a problem for both Girls Aloud and Rachel Stevens (and even Alison Goldfrapp) too.

It's not something I rule out though, much like the idea of casual racism in saying 'I don't find Asian women attractive' (that thread).

I fucking hate hiveminds, especially proactive, fascist ones.

also, fight fire with fire and all that

can it only operate at either end of these two paradigms to be popular and successful?

Post Smiths, what was there? a bit of a lull for pop rock with the chasm opening between stadium filling U2, Simple Minds etc. and proto-shoegazers who would only dent the charts. If Bloc Party go a bit trippier on their next album that might be cool but of course it won't sell as well.

This IS interesting because I can't quite see another 60s revival happening either.

Things do not and never have cycled like pop.cult. commentators like to pretend, though.

What makes you so sure?

I love you, Henry.

Something being revived more than once does not equal a cycle, because things are never revived in exactly the same way - cross-pollination due to history prevents that.

Internet now and for a while been perceived as instrumental in breaking bands. It seems to get tacked on to AM press just to strengthen the story, creating a mythology of sorts. The only difference I can see is that somehow the scale of it was a new high (rather than a new thing in itself). If that's deemed noteworthy on it's own terms then fair enough but really it's just a statistic.

Cross-pollination doesn't always come through in either the music or messages though. It's not coming through enough in what I've heard of the AMs whereas I think it seems more evident in the sound of FF or Kaisers.

I think a lot of the people buying the AM's record aren't just in the 15-21 bracket, that explains the two #1 singles. I think that as it's a relatively quiet since the Franz album for releases of that ilk (Just The Strokes and Ashcroft.) Throw in lack of large rock act having a greatest hits over christmas. (Take That, The Progidy, Destiny's Child and Supertramp probably didn;t end up in too many Dad's stockings) I think it's safe to say that a lot of Coldplay, Stereophonics and Oasis fans are buying this record too.

I also guess that Editors slow burn chart success is due to good singles selction at the right time. Bullets was top of the MTV2/NME chart for a long time and re-releasing 'Munich' and knocking a couple of quid from the price has done them wonders. It had still sold 200,000 by October at any rate (When I read that I assumed it was an extra zero.) Does this explain Hard-Fi and Kasiers as well (Kaisers never got above #3 but was only outsold by Blunt and Coldplay.)

Is that all it takes to be a success now? An album with three catchy singles one you can re-release a year after and you quietly shift 5,000 records a week for 8 months. I guess even Funeral fits under that catergory (I think it charted at #47 and then on the back of Neighbourhood #3, Rebelion (Lies) and Wake Up it re-entered the top 50 but not the top 40 until it got so many EOY plaudits.)

OK, explanations over. Now it's the yanks' go.

Put it this way: I'm still playing it, the best track seems to be the one tacked on at the end at the last minute, What's not to like?

Noel Gallagher compares Arctic Monkeys to Oasis
The Oasis star speaks out

Noel Gallagher has stuck up for Arctic Monkeys following Morrissey's comments that success has come to fast for the band.

The Oasis guitarist spoke just hours before the Monkeys opened for the band at the Toronto Air Canada Centre (March 20).

"It happens when it happens, man, and I would say thank God that it does happen," he said. "You'd be a bit of an idiot if you said, 'No, I'm too young for a record deal.'"

He also explained that Arctic Monkeys' success reminded him of Oasis' career, telling the local Toronto Sun newspaper: "We used to sit and read things about us and think, 'Are they talking about the same band?' Cause we've sold a few records but we've not sold that many records, and we're not that popular.'"

He added: "But I would embrace success when it happens. Any level of it. Just fucking get on with it. If the music didn't stand up... but you've only got to listen to (their) tunes. They're unique to themselves. And they've got their own thing and I think it's great. It doesn't sound like anybody else and I like the way that they don't wear shirts and ties and blazers... These kids seem to be pretty much like us. They kind of look like we do."

Morrissey slammed Arctic Monkeys earlier in the week, saying: ""It's happening all too quickly for them. They haven't proved a thing and they haven't had to work very hard - that must make them insecure. It's all a bit unnatural. OK they've sold about 700,000 albums, but it can't be gratifying. They haven't been driving up and down the M1 for fifteen years."

Gallagher however has praised the band's lyrics saying: "I think with the Arctic Monkeys, a lot of it is about the world play. 'Cause they are quite stunning lyrics, to be honest. The thing about the words, it's alright if you understand them."

He continued: "But I'm sure that the Arctic Monkeys couldn't really give a monkey's - whether it translates to people in China or not. They're just doing their thing. And when this kind of thing happens in the first two years, people will dislike the Arctic Monkeys purely for all the hype that surrounds them but that's got nothing' to do with them.

"They're probably as embarrassed by it as people who don't like them, 'They don't fucking deserve it.' They're probably as upset about it as Morrissey is, but there's nothing they can do about it. You've just got to fucking get out there man and ride it out."

eh?

I HATE EVERYTHING THAT ISN'T ME

-- Onimo

OTM, that is what I was thinking.

Morrissey has apologised to the Arctic Monkeys if his recent comments about them caused offence.

The singer was quoted criticising the band's rapid success while at the South By South West festival last week (March 16), suggesting it was too soon and "a bit unnatural".

However Morrissey has issued a further statement to NME.COM, explaining he was not criticising the Sheffield newcomers.

"I'm sorry that the comments I made at SouthBySouthWest about the Arctic Monkeys were printed so harshly in The Times and the NME," states Morrissey.

"I actually quite like the Arctic Monkeys and whatever I said was said with tender, avuncular concern. I hope to God I didn't upset their grannies," he added.

"In any case, I was wrong about their success being too sudden and without any dues paid, because that's exactly how it happened for The Smiths. So, I really should shut it."

Thank god we occasionaly get some decent stuff from the UK!!!!

crosspost

50 cent singles which are not just good but GREAT: wanksta, in da club, candy shop, outta control, just a lil bit, plus he's on lil kim's magic stick, and g-unit's poppin' them thangs.

SO OTM it draws blood from a stone!!!
if you added the Cure or Depeche Mode you'd destroy reality with yr correctness...

I believe the correct term is "rather ripped."

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/04/british-teenager-michael-piggin-planned-new-columbine-massacre

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ADwLN586vw

Obviously he wasn't planning on assassinating rock'n'roll, then.

band this terrorist music now!

ban.
ban.

I think that song on the radio sounds like the Carpenter score to "Escape from New York:"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpOSxM0rNPM&feature=kp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OnM2v2DnBo&list=PL5xYrQPWgYDgvJC2YIq0i6n_re2FE9U4G