Arctic Monkeys. Where do I begin this one? Four young lads from Sheffield that stole our hearts and had us put on our dancing shoes with their debut album. The now mature guys come back after much growth and give us “Humbug.” Arctic Monkeys took the British music scene by storm in 2005 with hit after hit from “Whatever They Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.” Now, after two albums, a side project and an ever changing sound, they’re ready to show us a different and more poetic face. A beautiful face with mystique and intriguing charisma.

Humbug takes off into the air with “My Propeller,” a song that introduces you to the departure of style that has become the Arctic Monkeys. Many “I bet you look good on the dancefloor,” fans will completely dislike this song and the rest to come (they’ve already disliked the second album so it’s not much news). The influence that Alex Turner and The Last Shadow Puppets had on this album is present throughout. The first song introduces Alex’s smokey vocal, playing the suave card as the guys back him up with coos. I’m not quite sure what this song is about. It can be seen as a sexual innuendo or as a love story. “My Propeller won’t spin and I can’t get it started on my own, when are you arriving?” whichever way you interpret it, it’s a pretty good song.

The first single, “Crying Lightning,” Follows in suite as being a dark and mischievous tune. The consistent pendulum-like baseline played by Nick and the complimenting guitar plucking by Jamie all brought together by Matt’s military-like drumming proves to be an eerie backdrop for Turner’s Tim Burton-esque story. “The last time I caught my reflection it was on its way to see you,” shows how far Alex’s lyrics have come in the past three years. It’s both poetic and beautiful and can be broken down layer by layer to be interpreted in many ways. Great single but a bit misleading on what’s on the album. “Crying Lightning,” is the closest you will come to recognizing the Monkeys.

“Dangerous Animals” gives us an insight into Alex’s love: Spelling. Bright young man probably aced many spelling bees in his grade school career. It’s better than “D is for Dangerous” as it doesn’t get as annoying.

The next track is probably one of the best the Sheffield lads have to offer. “Secret Door,” is a ballad which highlights every members talent and makes them shine without outshining one another. The epic progression and overall tone of the song will give you a roller coaster ride of emotion and feeling. “Fools on parade,” is the lyric that shines out and plays as stimulus to the roller coaster. This song shows how far Matt Helders has come. His talent and passion for the drums has grown immensely since their start with “Whatever you say…” the beats he creates stand out as does the bass lines. Damn it. Everyone in this band has matured as I said earlier. They are not only a band, but full grown musicians who understand the craft.

“Yours is the only ocean, I want to swing from,” damn right. It is.  ”Potion Approaching,” is a great track that reminds me of Depeche Mode mashed with Mr. Bungle. It’s a retro sounding song with the typical monkey signature of electro guitar plucking. When the song slows down to half it’s speed, the thumping drums and bass drive the message home. Cause yes, yours is the only ocean.

My least favourite song is “Fire and  The Thud,” just don’t like it. Something is missing. Pizazz maybe? But every album has an ugly duckling that grows up to become an uglier duck. A forgivable exception. The only thing it has going for it is the cooing in the background but it’s not enough to save it.

What’s the best choice of song to follow the shittiest song of the record? Yeah.  That’s right, the best song of the album. “Cornerstone” is a beauty. A gem. A lovely song with even lovelier lyrics. It is essentially a poem with a track behind it. Think of what the remaining Doors did for Jim Morrison with “An American Prayer.” The chorus to the song is really a special one and reminds me of “505.” Thats it. It’s the “505,” of this album. “I smelt your scent on the seat belt and kept the shortcuts to myself.” The crescendo that leads to the last verse sets you up perfectly for the climactic verse.

Matt Helders provides a fresh beat for “Dance Little Liar,” having it change multiple times within the song but all fitting perfectly like a jigsaw piece. The guitar and percussive conversation that is had during the end of the song is colossal. The drums play the guitar part and then they switch around. It’s epic, with the occasional few measures of an old school beat.

The haunting organ intro and the quick change into heavy rock territory is what’s in store for you in “Pretty Visitors.” With a twist to the age old question, Alex asks “who came first? The chicken or the dick head?” I reckon the dick head. It’s again a track that highlights Matt Helder’s growth as a drummer. Rapid rolls and changes, thumping and thrashing. It’s all there.

The last track of the album is a very Last Shadow Puppet-esque song which I have mixed feelings about. It’s a good song but Alex could have saved it for him and Myles for TLSP. Bottom line is that eight of ten songs on the album are great, one is neutral and one is just not up to par. Not bad. The lads from Sheffield will keep morphing throughout the years and just like the Beatles, will have many  epochs of change in their musical trajectory. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they are four talented and funny dudes.

On a personal note, this band is probably the most important one for me. It was Alex, Matt, Jamie and then Andy that got me into the indie music scene. Their catchy tunes, lovely lyrics and overall humble appearance taught me something. Greatness is to be sought, only then will it be found. Mainstream is rubbish.

Bottom line: If you like the Arctic Monkeys’ “Favourite Worst Nightmare”: Buy It!

Top Tracks: Secret Door, Crying Lightning, Cornerstone

…Herminio

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The Sheffield boys are back, and they have a bag of new tricks with them. The Arctic Monkeys have released their third studio album, and it’s riding the hype train as fast or faster than their previous albums. They have already set themselves up as one of the top bands in Europe, but haven’t had much mainstream success in America. They have been media darlings from the beginning in the UK when their first ever single “I Bet You Look Good On The Dance floor” shot straight up to #1. Since then they have changed their sound quite a bit, “Favourite Worst Nightmare” now seems like the catalyst to what is now “Humbug.” To help them with the heavier and darker style they enlisted the help of Queens of the Stone Age front man Josh Homme, and just for a bit of inspiration they claim to have listened to Cream, Jimi Hendrix and Black Sabbath while recording.

The new influences become apparent right from the start. The album starts off with “My Propeller”, a menacing love, or lust song. Depending on how you look at it. With lyrics like “My Propeller won’t spin and I can’t get it started on my own/ when are you arriving?” Alex Turner is sure to get many propositions. One of the things that have changed for the better with this new album is that Alex Turner has moved on from writing about his experiences with chavs and underage drinking for more poetic and mature situations.

“Crying Lightning” is heavy on the bass, drums and poetic imagery. It starts with a pounding bass line that you would recognize immediately if you heard it somewhere. Soon the guitar starts, and Alex starts the singing, and with that you start hearing their new style. It’s a lot more menacing then their softer sound on songs like “Mardy Bum” or “Leave Before The Lights Come On.” The song also has its lyrical gems, like “The next time that I caught my own reflection/ it was on its way to meet you/ thinking of excuses to postpone.”

Keeping on with the whole menacing and heavy template, “Dangerous Animals” fits right in. In this track you find Alex screaming “ D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S” and “A N I M A L,” yes he spells it out for you. Just like the previous two songs, it’s also about relationships to some extent. “..You should have racing stripes/ the way you keep me in pursuit/Sharpening the heel of your boot/and you press it in my chest and you make me wheeze/ then to my knees you do promote me.” To me the song seems like a bit of a filler track. It doesn’t quite stick out on its own, and the letter by letter chorus can get really annoying.

“Fools on parade/Cavort and carry on/See waiting eyes/ that you’d rather be beside than in front of/ But she’s never been the kind to be hollowed by the stares” croons Alex on “Secret Door.” It’s a lot slower and softer than the other songs on the album, especially the chorus where Alex sings “The secret door swings behind us/She’s saying nothing/She’s just giggling along” with such softness and sweetness that you almost get diabetes. “Secret Door” is essentially Humbugs “505.”

The next track on Humbug is “Potion Approaching” which has a heavy drum and bass section. It just pounds and pounds relentlessly throughout the song. But other than that, the song seems like a filler song to me, nothing quite special going on in this one. “Fire And The Thud” on the other hand is quite charming; it starts with a rather psychedelic sounding intro part with a few good “Oooohs.” Alex’s voice sounds rather smoke-y throughout the whole song, but in a good way which helps him express his longing with lyrics like “The day after you stole my heart/everything I touched told me it would be better shared with you.” Then right before the song ends it breaks down into a great solo, which then becomes layered with more vocals, that make you visualize bright colors, and 60’s style liquid light shows.

“Cornerstone” is the next song and it’s littered heavily with poetic lines. It’s also possibly the best song on the whole album. It’s a ballad type song with what sounds like a glass slide assisted guitar part, just to give it that extra “smooth“ feeling. It really reminds me of something The Smiths would write. The song seems to be about an ex who disappears from Alex‘s life. So he goes around looking for her, but instead runs into many girls that look just like her, but ultimately they reject him when he asks is he can call them her name. “I thought I saw you in the battleship/but it was only a look alike”, “it was close, so close that the walls were wet/and she wrote it in Letraset/No you can’t call me her name.” At the end of the song, Alex finds a woman who is willing to go along with Alex’s demand, it just turns out it’s his ex’s sister. A happy ending if there ever was one I say.

“Dance Little Liar” keeps their new style front and center while still sounding like it could have been part of “Favourite Worst Nightmare.” Just like a number of other songs on Humbug “Dance Little Liar” is drums and bass heavy, but that doesn’t mean that the guitar doesn’t get its turn, just like “Fire And The Thud” there is an excellent little solo near the end. Alex’s singing almost seems to be beneath all the instrumentation on this track. Just like the name of the song implies this song is about the lies, made by liars and how lying doesn’t work out in the end. “The coming clean will hurt/and you can never get it spotless/When there’s dirt beneath the dirt” he tells us, as he commands us to dance, “You’ve got to dance little liar!” So if you’ve lied to Alex before, you better do a little jig if you see him coming your way.

A haunting organ riff introduces us to “Pretty Visitors” the next song on Humbug. A song which makes the listener say “what the fuck?” upon hearing the first line. I won’t ruin it, but I will say it includes trampolines, and tramps. The songs chorus has a church-y vibe to me, layered vocals, with a deep sound. Then near the end the song breaks down into something you’d hear in a montage for an action movie trailer. You can just picture Godzilla having his way with a major city to this song. The song also provides a very important question. “What came first, the chicken or the dickhead?”

Humbug closes off with “The Jeweler’s Hands.” A mysterious and gloomy sounding song that lasts for almost 6 minutes, by far the longest song on the album. It’s a song that definitely grows on you. At first it seems lifeless, and dull. With more listens it becomes one of the songs that stays in your head the longest.

Humbug is not an album for everyone. People who only loved “Fluorescent Adolescent” or “Dancing Shoes” will not think of Humbug as an album made by the Arctic Monkeys that they know. Well that’s just the thing; we are all still not quite sure who they are. I’m pretty sure; they don’t even know what their next album will sound like. For all we know it will include only tribal instruments, and the percussion parts will consist of carrots being banged on a damn lettuce. Even if that was their next album, I’m sure Matt would play the hell out of those carrots, and ultimately that’s what it’s all about. They have fun, they make a fun album, and we have fun listening to it.

Key Tracks: Cornerstone, Crying Lightning, Fire and The Thud, Dance Little Liar

-Kevin

We are back to regular updates and album reviews and overall epicness. Solo album reviews is what you should look out for as well and regular updates via Twitter. We apologize guys, we never meant to desert you. =]

…Herminio