Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not

Published 2006

Wikipedia

Weird one today, and also iPod-riffic, so blame it for anything super strange.

... And the time and place album. 

Or a tribute to Dr William Hollingsworth. 

Imagine that you were told a day before that you were going on a road trip. That you would take it with two of your good friends and a guy who you thought was cool, friendly and interesting that you didn't know so well. Imagine that the purpose of this trip was to go to an alien landscape and get very, very ,very drunk with a bunch of other college kids who you have never met and anticipate never meeting again. Imagine that you had a couple hours on the road with an iPod and three other guys. 

This is a recipie for one of two things. Thing one: a ton of awkward picking of weird music to try to out indie each other, or thing two: a group of guys picking awesome music screaming at the top of their lungs about tire fires and how crazy they were going to get. 

This is the situation in which I was introduced to the arctic monkeys. And what an introduction. I probably never would have given this band a shot if it had not been for that introduction.

For a first album, it's suprisingly well put together and obviously well done. This is one of those bands that everyone you know will claim to have known about them first and that you are late to the party. Because all your friends are pricks. Or something. Wait where was this going. 

Oh right. There are albums that exist to be heard in a certain time and place. They must be heard there or they might not flourish into the album that you understand. For an obscure comparison, it's like that flower that mr Wilson cultivates In the Dennis the menace movie, which only blooms every forty years or something. 

This is an album that needs to be heard in the company of people who want to enjoy a good solid rock album. This is not an album to be listened to alone. Which I am violating just by writing this solo, but fuck it right. You need to have some Streets to build on, you need to have some Man Man to follow up with and of course some Death from Above to finish it off. 

These are not the greatest artist ever, but they fucking try to be. They obviously attended the Liam and Noel Gallagher school of becoming brother pop stars, but in this case it is not to be begrudged. They make some really solid songs along the way and want to make some people fucking move. So fucking hats off to the fucking monkeys and don't listen to any of their other albums because they are mediocre as shit. 

Anyway, thank you Will. I still consider you one of the coolest people I know, and I wish that we had more time together. But I guess that is what the next roadtrip is for.