Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say That I Am, That's What I Am Not
By: Mark Runyon | Category: Album Reviews | 04/11/06 | 08:33 PM
 |  |  Grade: A | Genre: Brit Punk/Pop
Summary: Whatever People Say I Am, That Is What I Am Not is a first class ticket to life in all its dirty, fast paced charm. Lets hope the filthy riches of success, that the music buying public are showering them with, doesn't make these blue collar chaps forget what made them hungry to begin with.
The new punk is alive and thriving in rock. Just look at the explosive popularity of bands like the Killers and Franz Ferdinand if you are fishing for proof. These hard-hitting popsters come packing nostalgic lunchboxes and a newborn's love for the Clash. Many bands have latched onto these lucrative coattails, hoping to cash in on this ticket to honeys and the bling. Inevitably, we hit saturation point where we've just heard enough. They need to prop a sign up saying go sell crazy some place else cause we're all full. Then we have a band come along called the Arctic Monkeys. Funky name aside, they are plying their bleeding guitars and drum assault in this same space, but it sounds amazingly fresh and exciting. Almost like the revolution was waiting for a new scrappy hero to take it to the next level. These indie rockers are definitely taking the music world by storm. Their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That Is What I Am Not cracked the UK and the Australian charts at number 1 in its first week of release. This accomplishment is unheard of from a band without a major label backing them with a barrage of advertising and paying DJs under the table to make their newest golden boy into a household name. They did it the old fashion way through touring, building a fanbase via the Internet and playing catchy as hell music that has to be passed along to a friend. |
The Arctic Monkeys are a bunch of working class lads playing dirty rock, wafting from a worn out garage in Sheffield. Refined just isn't in their vocabulary. They play to surrender their heart to their rock demigods. They play to the kids fighting off a river of sweat, grinding it out on the dance floor. They play for that certain lass across the bar that has lust smoldering in her eyes. You may want to lump them in with recent UK exports like Hard-Fi, Kaiser Chiefs or the Libertines, but make no mistake, these Monkey's assault the senses harder than the aforementioned with a utter disregard to frail ear drums of your nagging neighbors.
Their first single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" is a rollicking romp, electric and high on possibility. Stripped down to basics, it's an ode to the store clerk, hair bound by convention and wrapped up in conservative dress who Turner would like to see shake her thang like a Polaroid picture. It's a great introduction to a band busy taking the world by storm. While we're playing John Travolta on the dance floor, "Dancing Shoes" has to be one of the most notable entries to the fold. The pulse of the music bounces and jangles as responsibility and worries of tomorrow are cast aside. We get to see Alex Turner's lyrical bite in priceless lines like, "get on your dancing shoes/you sexy little swine." Brevity seems to be the order of the day as the majority of the tracks clock in around two and a half minutes. It's just enough spice to get you hooked then it drops you into the next engaging beat. It creates a great continuity throughout the album where no song feels out of place even when the pace pulls off the racing tempo.
One of the few songs that take a brief reprieve from the gritty pound of beats is "Riot Van." It's a laid back strum that chronicles lazy cops trudging after hooligans with no respect for the law. These youth seem ashamed to be thrown into the paddy wagon by these rent-a-cop types. It seems to be the tune that says the party has wound to a close and daylight is threatening to invade the stiff odor of vomit invading the splintering headache. The momentary pause is just that as the rapid fire "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured" grabs the baton. This tune just saunters in, oozing cool.
All these songs are about clubbing, dodging the law and racing to the wall of drunk before you realize its about to mangle you. This energy of the night flows through this album from the opening notes of "View from the Afternoon" to the closing salvo of "A Certain Romance." It has a life and vitality that just resonates between the notes. It's a diary chronicling sucking of the essence out of life through a straw even without money or privilege. Tangling with the Southside gang or teasing the pigs by dishing their donuts into the dirt is all part of the nightly fun. Whatever People Say I Am, That Is What I Am Not is a first class ticket to life in all its dirty, fast paced charm. Lets hope the filthy riches of success, that the music buying public are showering them with, doesn't make these blue collar chaps forget what made them hungry to begin with.
Release Date: February 21, 2006
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