Arctic Monkeys "AM"

Since their breakthrough in 2005, Arctic Monkeys have been crashing their way through the music industry. The four Sheffield boys Alex Turner, Jamie Cook, Nick O’Malley, and Matt Helders formed together in early 2002 and debuted their EP album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not in 2005. The indie rock band has released four more albums since then with AM being their most recent released on September 6th, 2013. Twelve songs make up this collection with hits like “R U Mine?”, “Do I Wanna Know?”, and “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” This album has a sense of coolness in it. The songs from beginning to start flow nicely -almost like they all twine together to make a story. It should not be classified under one style or genre of music; realistically the whole album is a mix of hip-hop, rock, and funk soul-pop, somehow making it all work.

Tunes like “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High? make your foot tap to the beat and makes for a smooth melody. “Knee Socks” is one of the better songs on the album- sexy and the smooth vocals from Turner mixed with the guitar makes this one of the more daring songs the band has sung. Arctic Monkeys give off this feel of 50s rock n roll with their leather jackets and slicked back hair; it most certainly works for them. This is not an innocent album- it gives off messages of getting high, alcohol, sex, lust, dissatisfaction and loneliness. The track “One For The Road” is all about having that one last drink before you leave. The title of the tune is repeated as the chorus throughout the whole song, you can hear it softly playing in the background along with the strumming bass guitar. “Mad Sounds” is one of my favorite songs on the album. It makes you think: does music have healing powers? You feel like you get lost inside the song and drift away from the world. For anyone new to the Arctic Monkeys- I would recommend that they listen to this song first.

Overall, I enjoyed the whole album. There were only two songs that I disliked- “Fireside” and “I Want It All.” Fireside was very dull and boring compared to the rest of the songs that surrounded it. It felt like a typical love song- how hard it is to move on from the one you love and reminisces his past relationship. Very predictable. “I Want It All” shows more of the rock side to the Arctic Monkeys; Turner wants to keep all the women that he encounters. The first chorus is all of the things that make up a relationship or a fling with someone. It just did not catch my attention throughout any part of the song. I would give the album overall a 8/10 and would recommend it to someone who was looking to listen to new music. I found that the best way to listen to Arctic Monkey’s music was with headphone, volume on high, and with no distractions. I just listened to the whole thing without doing anything else and really got a feel for it. The Arctic Monkeys really nailed this album and it is something worth listening to.