Arctic Monkeys - "Favourite Worst Nightmare" era

[banet2001]

I will be seeing the Arctic Monkeys live tonight.

[WotUNeed]

banet2001 said:

I will be seeing the Arctic Monkeys live tonight.

Awesome! I wish they were coming somewhere nearer me. Tonight's Chicago show is the closest they get, but that's still not actually close.

[banet2001]

Arctic Monkeys sell out the Riviera

Hey, hey, they’re the Arctic Monkeys. And they’re too busy singing to put their instruments down.

So busy that the U.K. band wrapped up its sold-out show at the Riviera Tuesday in a scant 75 minutes, no encore. Yet this didn’t pose a problem. The Monkeys are strict economists and use every second to their advantage. In what would have been an opening set for any American jam band worth its patchouli, the Monkeys’ show packed enough highs and lows into a show perfectly timed to dazzle. For them, Tuesday’s show was designed like a marathon except dialed to breakneck speed.

The band is on this tour to live up to the gooey hype the British press generated on its behalf early last year when its debut album became a best-seller and word of mouth put them on everyone’s lips. The excitement didn’t transfer so overwhelmingly to these shores. Now with a second album, “Favourite Worst Nightmare” (Domino), the band is back to settle that score and demonstrate they are more than an overnight sensation.

Unlike many other trumped-up U.K. imports of recent years — Franz Ferdinand, Clinic, the Kaiser Chiefs — the Arctic Monkeys are not reliant on flash or, for that matter, much personality. They four-member band ignited excitement (and never-ending body surfing) strictly through their frantic songs. Hinged on choppy beats, dual guitar lines as sharp as barbed wire and similarly sharp time changes, the band stayed committed throughout, never relenting to playing the same trick twice.

When the music served function more than form — especially true of songs from the first album — the Monkeys sounded mechanical. During these times their biggest asset became lead singer and guitarist Alex Turner who injected conversational inflection into his motor-rattling vocals. Looking like a Mod-era Pete Townshend, Turner funneled violent urges into the nuances of his songs by singing at a pace any rapper could appreciate.

The band’s ever-relenting drive translated better live than it does on record. Songs like “Dancing Shoes” and “Still Take You Home” were co-opted by audience that adopted backing vocals, making the evening feel more like a rugby match.

Despite the high energy, the Monkeys showed they were capable of sophistication. This came through the interplay between Turner and his fellow guitarist Jamie Cook. Often the two would start songs together but then, somewhere in the middle, Cook would add nice melodic flourishes to Turner’s penetrating rhythm. At one point, they faced each other and made the reliance on each other evident by trading riffs back and forth. Their meticulous interchange gave the music its high wire tension. Despite having accents of punk and ska, the music never followed the typical rules of each.

The Monkeys finally arrived at its jam band moment on “A Certain Romance,” the last song of the night. Turner’s guitar solo swung through the middle as drummer Matt Helders drove the song hard straight to the end. They slowed as they progressed, finally stopping to take the first long pause of the night — before the last note of the night.

www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=311098

[roentgenizdat]

05/19: 7 37 ARCTIC MONKEYS FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE 17,882 -59 44,149 62,196

[roentgenizdat]

05/26: 37 62 ARCTIC MONKEYS FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE 11,384 -36 17,882 73,580

[joker]

The Arctic Monkeys cover Amy Winehouse:

"You Know I'm No Good" - story & song at the link.

[roentgenizdat]

06/02: 62 79 ARCTIC MONKEYS FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE 9,046 -21 11,384 82,626

[oscillations.]

Fluorescent Adolescent is already picking up steam at Alternative. It may outpeak "Brianstorm".

[Adz]

Where did Brianstorm peak?

[oscillations.]

Something like #63. It was almost as tragic as BRMC (and with a LOT more hype going into it).

[roentgenizdat]

06/09: 79 95 ARCTIC MONKEYS FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE 7,481 9,046 90,107

[joker]

cherrycrush said:

Something like #63. It was almost as tragic as BRMC (and with a LOT more hype going into it).

I'm still shocked it couldn't even make the top 50... peaking at #63 (or thereabouts) is really a disappointment.

[Ling-Ling]

Releasing "Brianstorm" here was a bad decision. They'll never be successful here IMO, but "Fluorescent Adolescent" was the obvious first choice for the US.

[joker]

duh5 said:

Releasing "Brianstorm" here was a bad decision. They'll never be successful here IMO, but "Fluorescent Adolescent" was the obvious first choice for the US.

Agreed, excellent choice for a single, and I'm hoping that FA will at least surpass what "Brianstorm" managed here chartwise.

[joker]

Arctic Monkeys Reveal "Fluorescent" Single Details

Seems like it was only yesterday that we clued you in to a white label platter from the impish, apeish Arctic Monkeys lot. Turns out, that yesterday was actually Tuesday. Nevertheless, these Arctic Monkeys turn out singles as fast as they dream up their fleet-fingered riffs.

As mentioned three days ago, the Monkeys will issue a single for Favourite Worst Nightmare highlight "Fluorescent Adolescent" July 9 on Domino in the UK. Now the single's full details are available, including tracklists for each of its multiple formats. You can have your "Adolescent" on a compact disc, a 10" record, or, if you don't care to hear the B-sides "Plastic Tramp" and "Too Much to Ask," a 7" record.

Oh, and a video for the track, starring Guy Ritchie fave Stephen Graham, should be appearing soon.

CD/10":

01 Fluorescent Adolescent
02 The Bakery
03 Plastic Tramp
04 Too Much to Ask

7":

A: Fluorescent Adolescent
B: The Bakery

Monkeys:

06-01 Nürnburgring, Germany - Rock am Ring
06-02 Nürnberg, Germany - Rock im Park
06-16 Dublin, Ireland - Malahide Castle *#%
06-17 Dublin, Ireland - Malahide Castle *#%
06-19 Cardiff, Wales - Arena
06-20 Cardiff, Wales - Arena
06-22 Somerset, England - Glastonbury Festival
06-25 Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene *
06-26 Stockholm, Sweden - Annex *
06-28 Hamburg, Germany - Stadtpark *
06-29 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter
07-01 St. Gallen, Switzerland - Openair St. Gallen Festival
07-03 Paris, France - Zenith *
07-06 Balado, Scotland - T in the Park
07-08 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07-09 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle *
07-10 Dresden, Germany - Alter Schlachthof *
07-11 Vienna, Austria - Arena *
07-13 Turin, Italy - Traffic Festival *
07-14 Ferrara, Italy - Piazza Castello *
07-15 Ais-les-Bains, France - Musilac Festival
07-18 Lisbon, Portugal - Coliseum
07-19 Vigo, Spain - Auditorio del Parque de Castrelos
07-21 Valencia, Spain - Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
07-22 Nimes, France - Les Arenes Festival
07-24 Nyon, Switzerland - Paléo Festival
07-28 Manchester, England - Lancashire County Cricket Ground *#^
07-29 Manchester, England - Lancashire County Cricket Ground *#^
08-03 Sydney, Australia - Hordern Pavillion
08-04 Brisbane, Australia - The Tivoli
08-05 Byron Bay, Australia - Splendour in the Grass
08-07 Melbourne, Australia - Festival Hall
08-11 Osaka, Japan - Summersonic
08-12 Tokyo, Japan - Summersonic
09-01 Ibiza, Spain - Bar M (Ibiza Rocks)

* with the Coral
# with Supergrass
% with the Delarentos
^ with Amy Winehouse, the Parrots

[joker]

Video - "Fluorescent Adolescent"

[Adz]

I don't understand why they never appear in their videos.

[oscillations.]

wtf happened to joker?

[roentgenizdat]

06/16: 95 140 ARCTIC MONKEYS FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE 5,261 -30 7,481 95,368

[roentgenizdat]

06/23: 140 197 ARCTIC MONKEYS FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE 4,132 5,261 99,500

[busyboy]

cherrycrush said:

wtf happened to joker?

[oscillations.]

I'm going to email Joker, I think. Didn't he list his email in that "Have You Ever Googled Yourself?" thread? We need to get to the bottom of this. I'm on the case.


- Nancy Drew

[oscillations.]

No one knows this yet, but the Monkeys will be playing Summerstage in Central Park, NYC on Sept. 19th (99% sure that is the date). I know this through a connection with Summerstage, who also informed me of the Amy show before it was announced this week. So keep your eyes peeled.

[roentgenizdat]

Dropped off the BB200.

[WotUNeed]

I would love to see them live!

Did they do any particularly cool or surprising song?

[WotUNeed]

^Awesome! Thanks!

[busyboy]

Thid single "Teddy Picker" is out today in the UK. The b-sides are "Bad Woman" (a cover of Pat Farrell & The Believers, with Richard Hawley providing lead vocals), "The Death Ramps" and "Nettles".

The video:

youtube.com/watch?v=2A2XBoxtcUA