Artic Monkeys...12 years on

cruxiform

They were mega-hyped at the time but after numerous albums and fantastic songwriting I've come to the conclusion they're one of our best bands of the past 20 years. It's a delight listening to them IMO. 

duotone

Yeah, Alex Turner is one talented sod!

mburekenge

Agreed

RocknRollDave

They've done some fantastic stuff and he's a clever lyricist.
In the 6 years or so my band's previous line-up was together, we were asked to learn dozens of songs but we all agreed Do I Wanna Know was our favourite. Thank God that was before my time fronting the band - I watch clips of Turner singing it and playing the riff at the same time and I have to pick my jaw off the floor.

RocknRollDave

Ps FWIW Cornerstone is my favourite AM song

Bidley

They're one of those bands I feel like I shouldn't like, but I do.

mudslide73

I used to work with a guy who'd taught some of them. He said they were perpetually "the second best band in college" whatever that means. I'd love to have heard the best one

Great lyrics and themes - I like how they are not ashamed of where they're from either. I consider "I bet you look good..." to be a new song... is it really 12 years old?  I

english_bob

mudslide73 said:

Great lyrics and themes - I like how they are not ashamed of where they're from either.

Yep. The View From The Afternoon is a note-perfect depiction of a noughties northern night out.

I've been less interested in their subsequent stuff, but what I've heard of it sounds like a band who have put out consistently good stuff and not settled in to a rut. 

stickyfiddle

Bidley said:

They're one of those bands I feel like I shouldn't like, but I do.

I have to admit i'm the opposite. I like snippets of their catalogue but never quite "got" it. Maybe it's cos I'm from the south? I honestly don't know.

Winny_Pooh

Do I wanna know is awesome, the rest of it doesn't do anything for me. The lyrics are a bit shallow really, Alex puts me off the band as a whole. 

Bidley

stickyfiddle said:

Bidley said:

They're one of those bands I feel like I shouldn't like, but I do.

I have to admit i'm the opposite. I like snippets of their catalogue but never quite "got" it. Maybe it's cos I'm from the south? I honestly don't know.

I'm a carrot-crunching inbred, so I can't really empathise either!

darthed1981

Agree with the OP, one of the best British bands of the last 20 years.

There are less successful and more experimental bands many people will like more, but for Guitar based music to thrive it needs to be represented at the top of the charts.

I'm no fan of the 1975 or Bastille (well, one or two decent tracks I admit) but having blokes with guitars scoring big hits increases the chances of more and better guitar based alternative rock getting the recognition it deserves.

thecolourbox

They are undoubtedly a success story and from what I've heard they are consistently decent and have managed that rare feat of always sounding like them but never sounding too samey.

I think of them though as a modern day George Formby, not necessarily in a bad way. Imagine if you will "With my little stick of blackpool rock" performed by them...sounds good right? Or similarly you could perform "I Bet you look goood on the dancefloor" or Flourescent Adolescent quite happily on a uke or banjolele and they'd sound very similar to old George. 

I'm neither north nor south so I don't gush over them singing like a northerner nor misunderstand their roots, so maybe that's why i'm only lukewarm, neither being a fan nor disliking them

Reverend

The hits from the first album I thought were great but I'm not too familiar with anything else. I did watch some of their set from Glastonbury that included the cringe-worthy Fonz bit. 

tone1

They always put a smile on my face 

guitarfishbay

A good band but one I never seem to listen to.  They can definitely write a good tune

proggy

I've only heard a few of their tracks but I've liked what I've heard. I also enjoyed their performance at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.

TonyR

For me their first two albums stand out - great tunes with witty intelligent lyrics.

After Alex Turner created The Last Shadow Puppets with that bloke from The Rascals the Monkey's sound seemed to suffer. I find their later stuff a bit meh.

Bygone_Tones

I never understood all the talk of them being "over hyped". who was hyping them? because I never got exposed to any of it. I think 'hype' is a ridiculous reason not to like a band anyway. If they're good they're good, if they're not they're not.

1st album was great, but I lost interest pretty quickly after that.

Placidcasual79

RocknRollDave said:

Ps FWIW Cornerstone is my favourite AM song

Cornerstone is f*cking astounding - an absolutely incredible piece of songwriting. And to have written it at such an age. The lyrics/concept are dark......

And I bet you look good on the dance floor - it go to be the teenage kicks of its generation. 

It'll be interesting to see where they go - hopefully a bit more musical diversity. 

blueskunk

Great band. Too many good songs but "that's where your wrong" has to be one the best pure pop tunes ever written.