Photo Courtesy of TheFireNote.com
Celebrated rock band Arctic Monkeys steer away from their quintessential pub-rock pumpy music in “AM,” their fifth studio album. Instead, the fastest-selling rock band in British music history continues to evolve in their decade-long stint, aiming for a more baroque darkness clashing with unwonted comedy.
In the past, the boys of Arctic Monkeys have been known as four edgy, drunken adolescents reinventing the rock ‘n’ roll wheel. The small town boys busted out of Sheffield, England in 2002 with their booming hit, “Fake Tales of San Francisco,” which was the first of many installments to solidify their throne in the Brit Alternative scene. Not long after that, the entire nation was tuning into the boys’ combo giddy guitar riffs and front man Alex Turner’s many-syllables-a-beat lyrics, as evident in record-breaking singles like “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.” From there, the band took various roads less traveled, and fiddled around with mellow, unenthusiastic undertones and skinny jeans pseudo monster metal for their proceeding records.
This time around, however, the boys trade in their jean jackets and shaggy hair for tailored suits and slicked back coifs. For starters, the Arctic Monkeys recently hopped across the pond and dropped their anchor in our own backyard, Los Angeles. Production for “AM” took place at Joshua Tree, where Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme helped bring it to life. Some argue that this minor change sifts the Arctic Monkey’s classic sound through a filter, shredding off some of the Who-Clash sound and gaining a “Californian” sound. Yet, there are also strong tinges of Velvet Underground and Black Sabbath that dominate the overall record.
While Velvet Underground and Black Sabbath are two of the album’s influences, the band also decided to look to some unconventional muses. Turner also lists Outkast, Aaliyah, Eminem, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on the list of artists that impacted the album. Additionally, Turner also looked to the writing styles of comedian Louis C.K. and other funny-men for the lyrics in songs like “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?”
This fusion of their signature rock ‘n’ roll, R&B pioneers and renowned comedy is implemented throughout the album. The album opener “Do I Wanna Know?” has a see-each-other-from-across-the-bar vibe, thanks to its hinging, reverberating chords and a steady, catchy beat that no doubt is from their R&B role models. Other notable tunes include the beachy tune “Knee Socks,” a cover of punk poet performer John Cooper Clarke’s “I Wanna Be Yours,” their revamped 2012 single “R U Mine?” and classic rock ballad “Arabella.”
Though the album just dropped on Sept. 10, it has already been nominated for the Mercury Prize, a highly prestigious British award. As if that weren’t kudos enough, the album is their fifth record to debut at No. 1 on the UK charts and is second behind Daft Punk for album of the year.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Follow the Graphic on Twitter: @PeppGraphic
As published in the Sept. 19 issue of the Pepperdine Graphic.
