January 30, 2006

Arctic Monkeys

If you check the dictionary for the word ”hype”, you’ll probably see a picture of Arctic Monkeys next to the definition.
The hype and expectations for the debut album Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not have been enormous and commercially the band has met every expectation and now officially holds the record for the fastest selling debut album in the UK.
In general I don’t let hypes influence my purchasing behaviors (normally I wouldn’t give a damn), but for whatever reason I was tempted by the media hysteria and decided to buy the album myself to check it out. And I guess you are a bit more trustworthy when you start ripping the album, because you’ve actually listened to it!
Now I’ve given the album its first spin and these are some of my immediate thoughts:

-If the energy on the album could be transformed into electricity, there probably would be enough to supply central London for a week or two.
-The energy prevents the album from being a complete waste of time (and money), because the great and truly memorable songs are sorely missing. It's impossible NOT to start tapping your feet, but
the catchy melodies are just not there.
-Best song is the last track of the album; Certain Romance. It’s probably the closest the band has gotten (so far) to write a melody that you’ll end up humming in the shower.


Am I disappointed? Not really, because I pretty much got the album I expected.

1 comment:

Parklife said...

I can't believe you spent your hard earned money on these guys... I'm shocked! ;-)