#221

PS - I like Brianstorm. Got to keep shit relevant…

#222

i kinda feel like the guy who reviewed beastie boys for pitchfork that time. arctics are a couple years older than me, they are from sheff i am from leeds, their developmet has been interesting to follow, their albums seem to emerge at certain points in my life that resonate. so therefore, they go beyond considerations of good or bad, cool or uncool. i like neil kulkarni a lot but i always felt he made a mistake years back writing them off as landfill indie/sports direct stuff. but i am a monkeys booster, i suppose. they get a 4 from me. i like the sunglasses too.

they gave miles kane a music career tho which is unacceptable however you spin it.

1 Like
#223

Yeah I was at a two-week long Eric Prydz set once. Not really been the same since

2 Likes
#224

2/5 for being miles better than their NME contemporaries and because I have enjoyed their first two albums. I’ve listened to every album at least one but they’ve not grabbed me - the songwriting is good but the instrumentation is really forgettable - but I’m going to do some repeat listens after the praise in this thread.

#225

I’ve only properly heard Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor and Do I Wanna Know before (started listening to the Tranquility Base album when it came out but zoned out early), so I’m trying to form an opinion by listening to the top singles and albums in the vote so far.

First up Cornerstone, and I can only assume this is only getting so many votes for channelling Des’ree and delivering a ghost/toast rhyming couplet. I certainly got the shivers. The song is otherwise bobbins.

#226

Always liked a couple of their songs, nothing amazing but wouldnt be mad if an arctic monkeys song came on. 3

3 Likes
#227

Good but have poisoned the well for a full generation

#228

The only HGATR so far where I’ve felt comfortable with assigning an arbitrary number to an artist or band… (I’m not giving them too high a score given what this post might suggest)

I had just turned 13 when “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” debuted at number one in the charts. I hadn’t really properly explored music by that age outside of buying/downloading singles - my Dad was trying to force classical on me to no avail and my Mum loved disco, funk, R&B and soul but she only really played it in the car on the way home from school. We watched Top of the Pops every Friday night though and I can still remember thinking “What is this!? Who are they!?” when this came on at number one. The low-budget production of the video, the accents, playing it live somewhere (I think I actually thought it was live at the time).

I wouldn’t credit the band or the song with starting my musical journey (some random BBC documentary on British music from Bowie to Blur did that) but it was definitely a kind of awakening for 13-year old me to what could actually be out there musically at the time. They were also the second band I ever saw live on my own back in 2009 at Brixton Academy before their Leeds/Reading headline set - funnily enough the support that night was the first UK performance from Them Crooked Vultures.

I’ve liked them to the extent of loving a fair few tracks but never falling head over heels for an album. Humbug is probably the closest I’ve come; the first two records fall in and out of favour while I hammered Suck It and See at the time but quickly recognised how derivative it was.

My mates and people my age LOVED them though and that’s what made me drift away, particularly with the release of AM. From mates to music publications, everyone was singing it praises but, try as I might, I couldn’t help but feel it was a reeeeaaaally boring album particularly when there were so many better records coming out at the time at the tail-end of 2013. I haven’t tried TTB&H - I put it on after a 4am shift and fell asleep halfway through (my fault).

So it’s probably a 3 for me as well. Tracks I still return to outside of the ones that have been mentioned are Only Ones Who Know, Do Me A Favour and The Hellcat Spangled Shalalalala (great track to play on a breezy, sunny day).

I didn’t expect this post to be so long for a band I’m so indifferent about but there’s some more context for you about someone who grew up with the band from quite a young age without any prior knowledge of their popularity.

#229

alright, donnie darko

#230

Bet you look good on the etc.

  • True artist
  • Fake & shite

0 voters

#231

oh no

#232

Listening to tranquility base, great record. 4 stars out of 5 is immense

4 Likes
#233

tbf Arctic Monkeys haven’t lost half their lineup and released something embarrassingly terrible, at least so far

#234

completely forgot this single existed, haven’t heard it in years. gonna have a listen cos it sounds good in my head

2 Likes
#235

So good. Keep switching my single vote between that and FA.

#236

Listen to the Gym Class Heroes one.

#237

I’m gonna listen to the good one first so I don’t ruin it

#238

That is the good one :male_detective:

1 Like
#239

I’d love to read a Meet Me In The Bathroom style oral history of them covering their teenage years to forming the band, the hype starting to build, to releasing their second album. I can remember the exact point on my way home from school when my mate said “you should go on Limewire download this song called Scummy by this band Arctic Monkeys”. The idea of a band’s early demos getting major buzz seem quaint now.

#240

It’s funny because it is the only time it has happened maybe, The Editors are the only other band that I can think of that posted their demos online and got buzz from it.

Once Arctic Monkeys got massive off people sharing demos everyone thought it was the way to get big and it has never happened. I can’t think of one act that has given away free music that are demos and then gone onto be big since them. Maybe people might be able to think of some but I am genuinely struggling.