ALBUM REVIEW; ARCTIC MONKEYS

Arctic Monkeys
Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
3.5/5

The Arctic Monkeys are the most hyped band in Britain. Ever. Are they deserving? This reviewer believes that the jury is still out. It is a solid album, albeit undeserving of the heaps of praise thrown its way by the likes of NME, the BBC, and everyone else throughout Britain. Before its release, NME had already claimed it to be the fifth best British release of all time. It is impossible for nearly any new artist to live up to that much hype. The debut of the album seemed to reaffirm the aforementioned claim, with it selling 360,000 copies in its first week, making Whatever the bestselling debut album in British history.

The main question, though, is the album really that good? I believe it is good, but not excellent. The songs are all catchy, and all infectious, but do not necessarily sound original. Parts of the song “When the Sun Goes Down,” sounds like it could have been lifted right from the Franz Ferdinand song “Dark of the Matinee.” They borrow heavily from their influences, flaunting their dancy, post-punk sound. “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” the lead single off the album, is a quick shot of angular guitars, and they go through three different riffs in thirty seconds before vocalist Alex Turner begins his lyrical ingenuity.

Whatever has achieved juggernaut status in Britain. The album, however, may not necessarily strike a chord with mainstream American listeners. The lyrics are chock full of northern British slang, and they are, as mentioned before, catchy, but not as much as Franz Ferdinand. For Americans, this album may be one for hipsters to show off to their friends not as immersed in the indie rock scene. Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not will be released in the United States on February 21, on the subsidiary of British independent label Domino, Domino US.