By Mishael Williams
You have most likely heard some of the Arctic Monkeys’ more popular songs from the 2013 and 2008 albums A.M and Favourite Worst Nightmare. The Band’s #1 song is “Do I Wanna Know” from their A.M album. A few other of their songs from the same album have also become very popular like the songs “Why’d You Only Call me When You’re High?” and “I Wanna Be Yours”, which have reached the top charts. In the Favourite Worst Nightmare album, the songs “505” and “Fluorescent Adolescent” have become popular as well, trending especially on TikTok. The rock band Arctic Monkeys has been a long-time success in the music industry, winning many awards including the NME award for best track (2008, 2006), Brit Award for Best New Artist (2006), and the NME Award for Best New Band amongst many others. They have 7 Albums so far, not including a new one called The Car, coming out on October 21st: Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not, Who The F*ck Are The Arctic Monkeys?, Favourite Worst Nightmare, Humbug, Suck it And See, AM, and Tranquility Base: Hotel and Casino. The band consists of the lead singer and songwriter Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitar-player Jamie Cook, and Nick O’Malley, the back-up singer and bass guitarist. Andy Nicholson left the band in 2006, a month after the debut of the Who The F*ck are The Arctic Monkeys? album. While all of the albums produced by the Arctic Monkeys include rock elements, each has a different vibe and unique overarching message.
The band’s first 2006 album Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not has songs with a more youthful element. The track is very upbeat and talks about nights out dancing and partying as well as meeting new people. Overall, it has a lot of fun elements and a very electric feel to it. I think the carefree vibe of the album is well represented by Chris McClure smoking a cigarette, wearing a casual white T-shirt on the cover. I love to listen to this album when I want to improve my mood or am looking for a fun listen. My top 5 songs in the album are:
- “Fake Tales of San Francisco”
- “You Probably Couldn’t See for the Lights but You Were Staring Straight at Me”
- “When the Sun Goes Down”
- “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor”
- “A Certain Romance”
Up next is the album titled Who the F*ck Are The Arctic Monkeys? which has five songs:
Up next is the album titled Who the F*ck Are The Arctic Monkeys? which has five songs:
- “Cigarette Smoker Fiona”
- “The View From The Afternoon”
- “Despair in the Departure Lounge”
- “No Buses”
- “Who the F*ck are The Arctic Monkeys?”
Out of all of the songs on this album, my favorite is “The View From the Afternoon”, which is also featured on the Whatever People say I am, That’s What I’m Not essential and debut album. Especially after watching the music video, it is safe to say that this song is one of the best they’ve produced. I love that Matt Helders, the drummer for the band, is shown playing enthusiastically in parking lots, an ordinary setting you wouldn’t expect to see him in. Overall, I think that Helders’ drumming and the guitar playing in the background take the song to the next level. My favorite lyric of the song is from the chorus: “Anticipation has a habit to set you up for disappointment and even excitement.” I love how this lyric shows contradicting meanings the word “anticipation” has.
If you’re listening to Arctic Monkeys on Apple Music, you can see that the album Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not is considered an essential album of Arctic Monkeys .I fully agree as it shows where the band started and how it has grown and evolved when compared with more recent albums like A.M and Tranquility Base: Hotel and Casino.
I hope that this article encourages you to check out some of the Arctic Monkeys’ songs, even some of the underrated and less popular ones!
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whatever_People_Say_I_Am,_That%27s_What_I%27m_Not
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_the_F**k_Are_Arctic_Monkeys%3F
HB IN RETROSPECT 