Arctic Monkeys

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Arctic Monkeys, left to right: Alex Turner, Jamie Cook, Matt Helders and Nick O'Malley
Background information
Origin	Sheffield, England
Genre(s)	Indie rock, Post-punk revival
Years active	2002-present
Label(s)	Domino Records Publishing labels: UK/US: Domino Records AUS/NZ: EMI Japan: Hostess
Website	www.arcticmonkeys.com
Members
Alex Turner Jamie Cook Matt Helders Nick O'Malley
Former members
Andy Nicholson Glyn Jones

Arctic Monkeys are an English four-piece indie rock/post-punk revival band originating from High Green, a suburb of Sheffield. Formed in 2002, the band currently consists of Alex Turner on lead vocals and guitar, Jamie Cook on guitar, Matt Helders on drums and backing vocals and Nick O'Malley on bass guitar, a position formerly held by Andy Nicholson.

Arctic Monkeys achieved chart success with their first two singles, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "When the Sun Goes Down", reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart.^[1] Their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not became the fastest-selling debut album in British music history and received critical acclaim, winning the 2006 Mercury Prize.^[2] The band's second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, is to be released on April 23, 2007, and will be preceded by the single "Brianstorm".^[3]

Arctic Monkeys are generally considered part of the indie rock scene^[4] alongside similar contemporary guitar bands such as The Libertines, The Futureheads and Franz Ferdinand.^[5][6] Arctic Monkeys achieved their success through fan-made demo tapes and online file-sharing.^[7] They were heralded as one of the first acts to come to public attention via the internet, with commentators suggesting they represented the possibility of a change in the way in which new bands are promoted and marketed.^[8] The band eventually signed to independent record label Domino Records.

Contents 1 Musical style 1.1 Lyrics 1.2 Live appearances 2 History 2.1 Emergence: 2002 — 2005 2.2 Record deals: Mid 2005 2.3 Initial releases: October 2005 — February 2006 2.4 Nicholson departure; Mercury Prize: April — September 2006 2.5 Favourite Worst Nightmare: February 2007-present 3 Criticism and controversy 4 Television appearances 5 In popular culture 6 Band logo 7 Discography 8 Awards 8.1 Band 8.2 Records 9 Footnotes 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Musical style

[edit] Lyrics

The lyrics of Arctic Monkeys songs often feature social realism and observations of working class life, as typified by "When The Sun Goes Down", described as a "witty, poignant song about prostitution in the Neepsend district of Sheffield",^[5] and "A Certain Romance", which comments on both indie and chav culture,^[5] which have led to comparisons with other acts, especially British rapper Mike Skinner, from The Streets^[9] and older artists Morrissey and Jarvis Cocker,^[5] both of whom are known for their combination of observational lyrics and humour.^[6]

The lead singer, Alex Turner, sings in a strong Yorkshire accent, typified by the contraction of "something" to "summat", use of "dun't" (and not "don't") for "doesn't", the replacement of "anything" and "nothing" with "owt" (/aʊt/) and "nowt" (/naʊt/), and the use of Northern English slang such as "mardy" for "grumpy, difficult, unpredictable".^[10] Their songs also include frequent references to popular culture both common and obscure; Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not includes references to Romeo and Juliet, Roxanne by The Police, "Rio" by Duran Duran, and Frank Spencer, from Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em,^[10] leading one journalist to describe than the band as having a "camp retro-futurist fascination" for 1980s popular culture.^[11]

[edit] Live appearances

See also: Arctic Monkeys tour history

At concerts, the band are better known for their sing-along nature and fan participation than for excessive lighting effects, pyrotechnics or other effects. Fans frequently join in, with the entire intro to "When The Sun Goes Down" typically sung by the crowd.^[12] However, their somewhat frugal shows have sometimes been criticised by reviewers. NME compared their performance at the 2006 Reading Festival unfavourably to that of Muse, who followed immediately after, using a multitude of fireworks and lighting effects, claiming that "in contrast to Muse's all-flashing, all-smoke-spewing, all-fire-raining slot, Arctic Monkeys simply stroll on without even the common courtesy of shoving up a backdrop", adding that band were too "self-conscious" and failed to be "the rock stars they've actually earned the right to be".^[12]. Alongside a headlining set at the Glastonbury Festival in June, the band are set to host their own "mini-festival" at Lancashire County Cricket Ground from 28-29 July 2007,^[13], with support acts Amy Winehouse, The Coral and Supergrass. The band also announced a large gig at Dublin's Malahide Castle on 2007-06-16, with a second date added the following day in response to high demand.^[14]

[edit] History

See also: Arctic Monkeys members and Arctic Monkeys tour history

[edit] Emergence: 2002 — 2005

In 2001, neighbours Alex Turner and Jamie Cook asked for instruments as a Christmas present and both received electric guitars.^[15] After teaching themselves to play, the pair formed a band with Turner's school friends Andy Nicholson and Matt Helders in 2002. Nicholson already played bass, so Matt Helders ended up on drums — "that was all that were left...they all had guitars so I bought a drum kit after a bit."^[15] Although reports suggested they named themselves after Helders' uncle's (or even father's) band, Helders later admitted that these reports were untrue, claiming "we made that up ‘cause we got so many people asking us that in the UK, so we just started making stories up",^[16] and that he just didn't have the heart to tell the original reporter he'd been lying.^[15] Jamie Cook came up with the name at school before the band existed. According to Helders "He just always wanted to be in a band called Arctic Monkeys."^[16] They began rehearsing at Yellow Arch Studios in Neepsend,^[17] and their first gig came on 2003-06-13 at The Grapes in Sheffield city-centre.^[18] After a few performances, they began to record demos and burn them onto CDs to give away at gigs. With a limited number of CDs available, fans began to rip the music back onto their computers and share it amongst themselves. The group did not mind, saying "we never made those demos to make money or anything. We were giving them away free anyway — that was a better way for people to hear them. And it made the gigs better, because people knew the words and came and sang along."^[16] They themselves took no responsibility for their music, admitting that they did not even know how to get their songs onto the Internet.^[16] When asked about the popularity of the band's MySpace site in an interview with Prefix Magazine, the band pointed out that they did not even know what MySpace was, and that the site had originally been created by their fans. "[When we went number one in England] we were on the news and radio about how MySpace has helped us. But that's just the perfect example of someone who doesn’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. We actually had no idea what it was."^[16]

In late 2004, they began to grow in popularity across the north of England,^[19] receiving attention from BBC Radio 1 and the British tabloid press. Mark Bull, a local amateur photographer, filmed the band's performances and made the music video to "Fake Tales of San Francisco", releasing it on his web-site,^[16] alongside the contents of Beneath the Boardwalk — a collection of the band's songs which he named after a local music venue.

In May 2005, Arctic Monkeys released their first EP, Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys, featuring the songs "Fake Tales of San Francisco" and "From the Ritz to the Rubble". This release was limited to 1500 CDs and 2000 7" records, but was also available to download from the iTunes Music Store. Soon after, the band played at the Carling Stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals, reserved for less known or unsigned bands. Their appearance was hyped by much of the music press and the band was received by an unusually large crowd for the billing they played. The critically acclaimed^[20] performance included spontaneous singalongs of tracks that were only available as demos on the Internet.

[edit] Record deals: Mid 2005

The band resisted signing to a record label, refusing to change their songs to suit the industry — "Before the hysteria started, the labels would say, 'I like you, but I'm not sure about this bit, and that song could do with this changing...' We never listened."^[18] Their cynicism with the industry was such that record company scouts were refused guaranteed guest list entry for their gigs, a move described by MTV Australia as "We've got this far without them — why should we let them in?".^[21] The success of the strategy was illustrated with a series of sell-out gigs across the UK. October 2005 saw them sell out the historic London Astoria, and Turner saw this as proof that they were justified to ignore the record companies, saying "Once it all kicked off, we didn't care anymore. In London, the kids were watching the band, and the record company were at the back watching the kids watching the band."^[18]

Eventually, they signed to Domino Records in June 2005. The band almost signed to an undisclosed "other label", but were attracted to the "DIY ethic" of Domino owner Laurence Bell, who ran the label from his flat and only signed bands that he liked personally.^[22] The UK's Daily Star tabloid newspaper reported that this was followed in October 2005 by a £1m publishing deal with EMI and a £725,000 contract with Epic for the United States.^[23] Arctic Monkeys denied this on their website, dubbing the newspaper "The Daily Stir". However, Domino have licensed the Australian and New Zealand publishing rights to EMI and the Japanese rights to independent label Hostess.^[19]

[edit] Initial releases: October 2005 — February 2006

Their first single after signing to Domino Records, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", was released on 17 October 2005 and went straight to #1 on the UK Singles Chart, selling 38,962 copies and beating McFly and Robbie Williams in the process. Three days later, they made their first appearance on the cover of NME. Their second single, "When the Sun Goes Down" (previously titled "Scummy"), was released on 2006-01-16 and also went straight to #1 on the UK Singles Chart, selling 38,922 copies and dethroning Shayne Ward. The band's success in reaching the #1 spot without marketing or advertising led some to suggest that it could signal a change in how new bands achieve recognition.^[24]

They finished recording their debut album at Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire during September 2005. Its name was confirmed as Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not in early December, with release originally intended for 30 January 2006. Although early versions of many tracks were already freely available to download from the band's pre-label demo CDs, it was widely expected to be one of the biggest releases of 2006 with thousands of copies pre-ordered. On 2006-01-05, Domino announced the album's release would be brought forward one week to the 23 January claiming that this was "due to high demand". While the same thing was done with the release of Franz Ferdinand, there has been continued speculation that the move came as a result of the album's leak and the impact of file sharing — a controversial suggestion given the part file-sharing played in establishing the band's fanbase.^[19]

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not became the fastest selling debut album in UK chart history, selling 363,735 copies in the first week.^[25] This smashed the previous record of 306,631 copies held by Hear’Say with their debut Popstars, and sold more copies on its first day alone — 118,501 — than the rest of the Top 20 albums combined.^[26]

The record was released a month later in the United States and sold 34,000 units in its first week, making it the second fastest selling for a debut indie album in America^{[citation needed]} and debuting at #24 on the Billboard album chart.^[27] US critics were more reserved about the band than their UK counterparts, and appeared unwilling to be drawn into the possibility of "yet another example of the UK's press over-hyping new bands".^[28] However, the band's June 2006 tour of North America received critical acclaim at each stop^[29][30][31] — the hype surrounding them "proven to exist for good reason".^[32] Meanwhile, the UK's NME magazine declared the band's debut album the "5th greatest British album of all time".^[33]

[edit] Nicholson departure; Mercury Prize: April — September 2006

In a similar fashion to bands such as Oasis and The Smiths, Arctic Monkeys wasted no time in recording new material, and released a 5-track EP on 2006-04-24, entitled Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys, and was seen by critics as a swipe back at the snowballing hype surrounding the band. Due to its length, the EP was ineligible to chart as a UK single or album. Furthermore, the record's bad language has resulted in significantly less radio airplay than previous records, although this was not a reported concern — "since they made their name on the Internet — and that got them a No.1 single and album — they don't care if they don't get radio play".^[34]

However, soon after the release of the EP in the UK, the band announced that bassist Andy Nicholson would not take part in the band's forthcoming North America tour due to "fatigue following an intensive period of touring".^[35] Upon their return to the UK, it was confirmed on the band's official website that Nicholson had indeed left the band. The statement, "We are sad to tell everyone that Andy is no longer with the band", also confirmed that Nick O'Malley — former bassist with Arctic Monkeys' fellow Sheffield band, The Dodgems, who had drafted in as temporary bassist for the tour — would continue as bassist for the rest of their summer tour schedule.^[36] Shortly after, Nick O'Malley was confirmed as a full-time member and bassist of the band.

Arctic Monkeys' first release without Nicholson, the single "Leave Before the Lights Come On", came on 2006-08-14. Turner suggested that "it feels very much like it could be on the album", and that the song was one of the last songs he wrote before their rise to fame.^[37] Although reaching #4 in the UK, the single became the band's first failure to reach #1 — leading to Turner referring to it as "the black sheep of the family" at the band's performance at the 2006 Reading Festival. The band were re-united at the Leeds Festival when Nicholson met up with his former band mates and his replacement bassist O'Malley;^[38] however only the original band members, minus Nicholson, were present at the award ceremony when Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not won the 2006 Mercury Prize two weeks later.

[edit] Favourite Worst Nightmare: February 2007-present

This section contains information about a scheduled or expected future album. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content could change dramatically as the album release approaches and more information becomes available.

On 2007-02-04 the band announced on their official website that their new album would be entitled Favourite Worst Nightmare. The 12 song track list was also revealed as well as a release date of 2007-04-23. The first single, "Brianstorm" (rumoured to be about the bands friend Brian Wallace) will be released on 2007-04-16.^[3] The first ever play of "Brianstorm" was on Marc Riley's show on BBC Radio 6 Music on the 28 February 2007. Alex Turner has described the new songs as "very different from last time", adding that the sound of some tracks are "a bit full-on - a bit like "From the Ritz to the Rubble", "The View from the Afternoon", that sort of thing."^[39] A secret gig played at Sheffield's Leadmill on 2007-02-10, debuted 7 new songs (6 from Favourite Worst Nightmare and 1 other).^[40]

Meanwhile, the band continued to pick up awards from around the world, winning Best New Artist in the United States' PLUG Independent Music Awards and picking up "Album of the Year" awards in Japan, Ireland and the US (see Awards). On top of awards for "Best Album" and "Best Music DVD" at the 2007 NME Awards,^[41] a remarkably successful year for the band was topped off as they picked up "Best British Band" and "Best British Album" at the 2007 BRIT Awards.

[edit] Criticism and controversy

The band have received criticism, based largely around the media circus that has surrounded their rise.^[43] Critics described them as one in a long line of largely overhyped "NME bands", while the release of the EP Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys just three months after their record-breaking debut album has been criticised by some, who have seen it as "money-grabbing" and "cashing in on their success".^[44] However, the band countered that they regularly release new music not to make money, but to avoid the "boredom" of "spending three years touring on one album".^[45]

The cover sleeve of Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, showing Chris McClure, a friend of the band, smoking a cigarette, was criticised by the head of the NHS in Scotland for "reinforcing the idea that smoking is OK".^[46] The cover of the CD itself is a shot of an ashtray full of cigarettes. The band's product manager denied the accusation, and in fact suggested the opposite — "You can see from the image smoking is not doing him the world of good".^[46]

[edit] Television appearances

October 2005 saw the group's only UK television appearances, performing on Popworld (15 October), E4 Music and Later with Jools Holland (28 October). Since these appearances, however, the band became notorious for refusing to play on any further TV shows.^[47] They have repeatedly turned down offers to play on the BBC's long running chart show, Top of the Pops, as well as ITV's CD:UK. The first footage of the band's gigs was broadcast on MTV2's Gonzo on Tour on 2005-11-12, featuring footage from a recent gig in Liverpool.^{[citation needed]}

The band's refusal to attend the 2006 BRIT Awards was originally seen as another snub to television, although a statement explained that it was in fact due to their prior commitments on the NME Awards tour. In their recorded acceptance speech for Best British Breakthrough Act, the band gained a "mystery fifth member" who did all the talking.^[48] Known for being camera-shy, it turned out that the band had recruited We Are Scientists frontman Keith Murray, a friend of the band, to accept the award for them, to just "confuse the audience".

Despite their hostility to appearances on UK television, the band made their biggest TV appearance when they appeared on Saturday Night Live on 2006-03-11 to kick off their sold-out US tour. The performance included the songs "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "A Certain Romance", and saw the word "ASBO" printed on the bass drum. However, just before the guitar solo of "A Certain Romance", Turner castigated a yawning audience member,^[49] and Cook tossed his guitar at an amp at the end of the song.

In February 2007 the band did not attend the 2007 BRIT Awards ceremony, due to recording of the video to their new single "Brianstorm" the same day. Although reported as a second "snub" to the ceremony, Helders told BBC 6Music ""We're filming the video that day, so we're not going to be anywhere near it. We haven't snubbed it, we're just busy boys getting ready to go on tour again."^[50] Winning "Best British Band" and "Best British Album", the band instead sent videoed acceptance speeches dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz and The Village People.^[51]

[edit] In popular culture

The popularity of the Arctic Monkeys in the UK, especially among young people, has led to politicians and journalists referencing the band in speeches and texts; Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown stated in an interview with New Woman magazine that he listened to them every day, claiming "[they] really wake you up in the morning",^[52] although in a later interview was unable to name any of their songs.^[53] He went on to reference this in his speech at the 2006 Labour Party Conference about the risk of global warming, joking that he was "more interested in the future of the Arctic Circle than the future of the Arctic Monkeys".^[54] Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell also referred to the band at the 2006 Liberal Democrats Party Conference, mistakenly claiming that they had sold more records than The Beatles,^[55] a comment which led to much derision from the media.^[54]

They were listed as one of the reasons to love 2007 by Blender magazine.^[56]

[edit] Band logo

The band's distinctive logo from their first release, Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys, was used by the band on their releases as well as their website up until February 2007. On 2007-02-13, the logo on their official site changed to a new design which features on "Brianstorm" and Favourite Worst Nightmare as well as subsequent releases from the album.

[edit] Discography

Main article: Arctic Monkeys discography

[edit] Awards

[edit] Band

• Best New Act - Muso Awards, November 2005
• Best British Breakthrough Act - 2006 BRIT Awards, February 2006
• Best New Band and Best British Band - NME Awards, February 2006
• Best New International Artist - Oye Awards (Mexico), October 2006
• People's Choice - Q Awards, October 2006
• New Artist of the Year - PLUG Independent Music Awards (USA), February 2007
• Best British Group - 2007 BRIT Awards, February 2007

[edit] Records

2006:

• "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor":
  • Best Track - NME Awards, February 2006

• Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not:
  • 5th greatest British album - NME, January 2006
  • Mercury Prize Album of the Year, September 2006
  • Best Album - Q Awards, October 2006
  • Album of the Year - NME, December 2006
  • Album of the Year - Crossbeat Magazine (Japan), December 2006
  • Album of the Year - TIME Magazine, December 2006
  • Album of the Year - Hot Press Magazine (Ireland), December 2006

2007:

• Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not:
  • Best International Album - Meteor Music Awards (Ireland), February 2007
  • Best British Album - 2007 BRIT Awards, February 2007
  • Best Album - 2007 NME Awards, March 2007

• Scummy Man
  • Best Music DVD - 2007 NME Awards - March 2007

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• NME — Arctic Monkeys
• I Like Music — Arctic Monkeys Biography
• BBC Collective: videos, interviews and reviews

[edit] External links

Official sites:

• Official Website
• Domino Records band page
• The Riot Van — Official North America tour site

Other links:

• List of unofficial fansites on Arctic Monkeys official forum
• Web directory of fansites and links
• Arctic Monkeys video clips
• Arctic Monkeys at MusicBrainz
• Arctic Monkeys at Last.fm
• Arctic Monkeys Lyrics

v • d • e Arctic Monkeys
Alex Turner • Jamie Cook • Matthew Helders • Nick O'Malley
Andy Nicholson • Glyn Jones
Discography
Albums: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not • Favourite Worst Nightmare
EPs: Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys • Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys
Compilations: Beneath the Boardwalk
Singles: "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" • "When the Sun Goes Down" • "Leave Before the Lights Come On" • "Fake Tales of San Francisco" • "Brianstorm"
Related articles
Arctic Monkeys tour history • Scummy Man • Domino Records