Arctic Monkeys - Your Favourite Worst Nightmare Review
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 04.24.2007
Can the biggest band in the UK avoid the sophomore slump?
My Story
In late 2005, early 2006, a new rock sensation exploded on the UK scene. The band was called the Arctic Monkeys and their debut album was the most successful in British history. Now, that would be impressive if the British music industry wasn’t so quick to jump on ANY indie rock band as “The Best Thing Of All Time”. Hell, I think even I have a million-selling album over there. Still, the Monkeys did manage to hit the Top 25 on this side of the pond, which was enough for many Americans to also stand up and take notice.
With their sophomore album ready to hit stores, will the Arctic Monkeys be able to show even more fans what all the fuss was about, or will they go down in history as another very successful British flash in the pan?
Their Story
For Christmas of 2001, two Sheffield neighbors and school chums named Alex Turner and Jamie Cook received guitars. They quickly taught themselves to play their instruments, learning hits by popular indie rockers like The White Stripes and The Vines, and soon after invited their friends Andy Nicholson and Matt Helders to form a band (pal Glyn Jones also spent a few months as the band’s vocalist). Nicholson already owned a bass, and Helders decided to learn the drums to complete the line-up. This was the beginning of Arctic Monkeys.
The band practiced for over a year before playing their first real gig in mid-2003. It was around this time that the band began recording demos and burning them onto CD-R’s. The CD’s would then be given away for free at Arctic Monkey shows as a way of getting their music out to would-be fans. The fans, in turn, ate up the music and uploaded it onto filesharing sites, growing the Monkeys’ base outside of the local area. This form of “marketing” (though it can really be described as luck and fan dedication) led to a lot of hype surrounding Arctic Monkeys’ debut EP, Five Minutes With Arctic Monkeys, which was self-released in Spring of ’05 and made its way to the iTunes digital music store. That summer, the Monkeys played the small stage at the Reading Festival to an enormous fan response. The response was so huge that the labels began calling soon after.
The band resisted the major labels at first, not wanting to conform to any label standards that would be placed on them by a huge company. In June, they finally inked a deal with indie label Domino Records and began work on a proper debut. In October, the band released their first radio single, “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor”. The song shot to the top of the charts in the UK and managed a Top 10 slot on the US Modern/Mainstream rock list. A second single, “When The Sun Goes Down”, fared equally as well on British radio.
By the time the release date for the band’s debut came up, the media and hype was at a feverpitch. As a result, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not became the fastest selling debut album in British music history, debuting at #1 and selling nearly 400,000 copies in its first week. In the US, the album reached #24.
In April of 2006, just a few months after their debut album’s release, the band released an EP of new material called Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys? as a way of satiating and capitalizing on demand for their music. Following its release, the band geared up for their first North American tour. Bassist Andy Nicholson stayed home, however, citing fatigue as his reason for skipping the shows. Nick O’Malley stepped in as a temporary bassist and, upon the band’s return to Sheffield, was named a permanent member when Nicholson officially dropped out.
That summer, the Monkey’s released their third single (and first without Nicholson), “Leave Before The Lights Come On”. The non-album song went #4 in the UK, but failed to chart in the US. That same summer, the Monkeys were awarded the Mercury Prize for Album Of The Year.
In late-2006, the band returned to the studio to work on their second full-length. The first single, “Brianstorm”, was released in April of 2007 and reached #2 on the UK charts.
The Album
On April 24, 2007, Domino Records released Your Favourite Worst Nightmare, the second album by Arctic Monkeys and the follow-up to 2006’s Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. This is also their first LP since bassist Nick O’Malley replaced Andy Nicholson. The album is available on both LP and CD. The Japanese version of the disc contains the bonus tracks “Da Fame 2R” and “The Matador”. The iTunes digital version contains a video for the single “Brainstorm”.
The Band: 8.0
Alex Turner: guitar, vocals
Jamie Cook: guitar
Matt Helders: drums
Nick O’Malley: bass
Sometimes you hear a band and realize that their music has been informed by all the right influences. Arctic Monkeys are one of those bands. On this new record, the Monkeys sound like the perfect blend of brash arena rock (Oasis), retro garage rock (The White Stripes) and crooning alterna-rock (Morrissey). Throw in a dash of hot, danceable funk and a smidgen of pop sensibility, and you have a hell of a sound. You have this album.
Alex Turner’s singing is a great match for the sound here, borrowing from The Smiths, no doubt, and perhaps even Julian Casablancas (The Strokes), to create a smooth, mellow and, at-times, punky sing-a-long inspiring vocal performance. He’s a great frontman, wrapping himself up in these urgent songs and never letting the urgency of the fast-paced songs here overwhelm his mic work.
And that’s no easy task. Matt Helders lays down some awesome drum tracks here, pounding with the skill and attitude of a young David Grohl (check out “Brainstorm” for further proof of that). Meanwhile, Jamie Cook is hammering the fuck out of his guitar, breaking ever so often for a fresh fill or riff that will only serve to excite you. Nick O’Malley, the band’s latest addition, proves to be a great utility man, keeping the rhythm and adding that bit of funk flash that keeps this album sounding so different from the band’s debut.
In all, this is a great sounding disc. The Monkeys have grown in the 16 months since their last disc, and it shows. It’s well produced (thanks to veteran James Ford), doesn’t get too slick, but never sounds lo-fi in a self-conscious way. In other words, it’s only rock and roll, and you’ll like it.
The Songs: 8.0
1. Brainstorm
2. Teddy Picker
3. D Is For Dangerous
4. Balaclava
5. Fluorescent Adolescent
6. Only Ones Who Know
7. Do Me A Favour
8. This House Is A Circus
9. If You Were There, Beware
10. The Bad Thing
11. Old Yellow Bricks
12. 505
As the Monkeys have matured in their sound, so has Alex Turner in his songwriting. While the songs of Whatever People Say I Am were seemingly of a similar thread, the stories of slacker youths in the city, the songs on this album, thematically, are much more varied, coming from all angles instead of perhaps the eyes of one. The characters here are well-defined, from the t-shirt & tie wearing “Brainstorm” to the desperate for fame kids of “Teddy Picker” to the cheating wives of “The Bad Thing”.
Just as the music is faster on Nightmare, the songs are equally as restless, jauntingly weaving through moods, stories and styles with all the speed and fervency of a child whose ran out on his Ritalin prescription. This would be unsettling if the tracks here weren’t so damn good. “Brainstorm” is an AMAZING rock single, while songs like “The Bad Thing” and “If You Were There, Beware” are equally as good. Even the middle section, which is sometimes the biggest Achilles heel for an album, soars with the one-two punch of the slowed-down ballad “Only Ones Who Know” and the thumping, building “Do Me A Favour”. Both deal with relationships and, emotionally, serve as the centerpieces for the record.
Of course, some tracks do miss their mark. “This House Is A Circus” is perhaps a little TOO danceable, while “Balaclava” feels like a throwaway retread of stronger material included on the album. Still, as an overall package, this is an awesome set of songs by a band that has been hailed “the saviours of rock” by the British press, but has somehow managed to stay level-headed and daring enough to, (gasp), improve.
The 411: Despite the backlash that has occurred thanks to the INSANE amount of press hype in the UK for the Arctic Monkeys, the band has managed to let their music do the talking and make an even better album than their debut. They may not be the end-all, be-all band that their being declared as, but they are quite possibly the best new band of the current decade. You Favourite Worst Nightmare is an urgent, restless album filled with great songs and tons of stylized rock ‘n’ roll. This band has avoided the trappings of the sophomore curse and have managed to grow up a little and actually improve on a sound that was already very popular. Simply put, Nightmare is going to please their already sizable fanbase and make new fans at the same time.
