Quick Before it Melts

Wednesday 05 August 2009

Arctic Monkeys: Ah! Humbug

Hey friends!  I’m home, sweet home after an extended weekend in the nation’s capital, hanging out in my favourite city with my favourite people and spending way too much money and eating way too much good food.  One of my favourite purchases was a kick-ass pair of Bose in-ear headphones that make the sound of my iPod soar.  Fan-effin’-tastic!  I spent some time in airport waiting lounges and giving them a spin with the new LP from everyone’s favourite hype machinists, Arctic Monkeys.  Out of the nether-where came word a while back that the band had an album in the can, co-produced by Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and James Ford (the latter helped with production on their last LP, Favourite Worst Nightmare and Alex Turner’s 2008 side-project The Last Shadow Puppets).

Humbug–for that’s it’s name–is due on shelves in North America and the UK in a few weeks time.  I really didn’t have too many expectations going into this album, based mainly on the fact that I never really felt that all the hype surrounding the band was justified.  I appreciate Alex Turner’s deft hand at a lyrical turn of phrase, (especially on fan-effin’-tastic songs like “The Age of the Understatement” from The Last Shadow Puppets and “I Bet You Look Good On A Dance floor” from the band’s debut) but were these guys truly going to be the saviours on indie rock?  Hardly.  The thing I believe about them is that they never truly believed that about themselves, either.  They knew they were good, but they knew there had to be some room to grow, to experiment and to improve if they wanted to have a life beyond the next issue of the New Musical Express.

To that end, I applaud Arctic Monkeys for never taking a lackadaisical approach to their work.  There is no internal hype or prepping when it comes to the music; it just sort of arrives fully formed, with a take-it-or-leave stance that doesn’t pass  presuppose that you’ll be foaming at the mouth for it.  Humbug is turning out to be a pretty decent little album, much more dynamic and interesting than their previous work.  There’s a growing sense of maturity in the arrangements and composition, and the band’s attitude about making music.  The vitality and youthful exuberance hasn’t dissipated into curmudgeonliness and cantankerousness, but you certainly get the sense that they’re raising an eyebrow or two at music journalists and the like blowing smoke up their ass.  I’m likening it to a taunt at the music press, like Arctic Monkeys are saying, “Yeah it’s a good album, but go and try to blow it up.  Fall over yourselves trying to make it more than what it is.”  I think that makes me like them even more.  “What came first, the chicken or the dickhead?” Turner asks on “Pretty Visitors” and I can’t help but wondering who he’s referring to.

I’ll hold off on a full album review until the release date gets a bit closer, but wanted to give you a taste of what to expect via We All Want Someone To Shout For‘s post of track’s from the band’s recent Web Transmission.  Don’t ever say I don’t do nice things for you, you mardy bums.

MP3: Arctic Monkeys “Pretty Visitors”
MP3: Arctic Monkeys “Crying Lightning”
MP3: Arctic Monkeys “Red Right Hand (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds cover)”
Myspace: Arctic Monkeys

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by J. Di Gioia | 1 Comment »

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 8:30 am and is filed under MP3. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.