Arctic Monkeys

I've been hearing a lot of buzz about the Arctic Monkeys on the Internet lately.  This band from Shefield in the UK has been releasing its music on its website in free mp3s and touring a lot.  Then they released two hit singles, I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and When The Sun Goes Down. 

That seems to be the formula these days because when they finally released their debut record, Whatever People Say I Am Thats What I Am Not, it quickly went to number one and became the fastest selling rock album ever in the UK, taking the crown from Oasis.

I didn't want to wait for the US release which is due in mid February but can be pre-ordered on Amazon so I went out and got the UK record.

You can also find tons of their mp3s on the Internet or you can visit their MySpace page if you want to sample the music first.

So how's the music?  It's great.  Very much in the vein of other young UK bands I love like Bloc Party, Hard-Fi, The Libertines, and Franz Ferdinand.  If you like these bands, you'll really like Arctic Monkeys.

One thing I really like is the diversity of sound on the record.  There's the in your face, loud driving beat of I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, the mellow sounds of Riot Van, the reggae beat of A Certain Romance, or the funky groove of Fake Tales of San Francisco.  All of it is great.

They'll do a short tour of the US in March and are coming to Webster Hall in NYC on March 25th. The show is apparently sold out.  I won't be in NYC at that time so I'll miss it, but I bet it will be a great show.

Comments

[Howard Greenstein]

Fred:
the band "Bill" is making their new CD available for free download. I like most of it, the "Sound Scientist" track sounds like Ben Folds met Jamiroqui with Jason Mraz for lunch at Harry Conick's House - anyway - worth the listen.
www.billmusic.net
Sourced via Adam Curry's Daily Sourcecode.

[Asif]

Hey these guys are great. Just listened to a couple of their songs on MySpace and I already like them.

[lee]

What is the hype with this band?
This music as been done in the 90's the band as no pressence what so ever the front singer would not know how to be a lead singer if liam gallagher hit him in the face!
Seen this joke for a band at Old trafford cricket ground - shocking performances the venue had 2 beer tents with 20 staff serving 60'000 people, nice one boys!
Your music is second hand your too small to be performing at gigs like this and £50 a ticket?
joke.
verdict - stick to ledmill more your style (no style)