Arctic Monkeys

I have yet to weigh in on the new Arctic Monkeys. Honestly, I wanted to give it some time to sink in before I made a decision, especially because it is such a departure and is a complex record.

With Whatever People Say..., the Arctic Monkeys came out as the sassiest, most whip-smart Brits in years. They were brash, snotty and judgemental, but 100% real. With Favourite Worst Nightmare, they broke into different musical personas, proving they could pull off love songs, urgent rock riffs, and still retaining the crown for the sharpest tongues in the UK.

So as their next move... they go metal? Well, it's perhaps not straight metal, but the Sabbath riffs are there. The guitar solos are there and so is the "devil's note." Sure, Josh Homme's production added some of this to the brew, but my thinking is that Alex and crew are just making their rounds through their influences and seeing what, in 2009's music landscape, is sorely lacking and filling that gap. And God knows we are all lacking in some heavy rock. But since the quartet are smart enough to know better than to simply nick songs with reckless abandon, they instead have fused this with their own sound, and, of course, the Alex Turner mind-spinning lyricism. I have poured over the lyrics to this record endlessly, just as I did with their first two releases, and I don't think I'll tire of this one either. With songs about love, sex, drugs, and overall reckless abandon, they understand and deliver what rock and roll has always been.