CD Review: Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Now and then I buy an album within a week or two if its release. And from now on, when I do, I'll try to write a review for all you GMYH'ers out there hungry for new music.

If you haven't heard of the Arctic Monkeys yet, you probably soon will. They have been an Oasis-level sensation in the UK, with their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, debuting at #1 on the British pop charts and becoming England's fastest-selling debut album of all-time.

Hailing from Sheffield (yes, the very same Sheffield that gave us Def Leppard), I would describe them as neoclassical British punk, if that makes any sense. The album cover (shown above) kind of sums up the album: straightforward, brash, honest, and youthful, but not entirely innocent. Lead singer Alex Turner has a classic, decidedly British punk voice, both frantic and eloquent, depending on what the situation calls for. The Arctic Monkeys are more punky, raunchy, and edgy than Franz Ferdinand or Bloc Party, but that's not to say that they don't have elements of both of those bands. On the same note, they are more melodic than the Buzzcocks or the Sex Pistols, but their sound is certainly derivative of the early British punk sound (that's not meant to be a knock in any way--the Arctic Monkeys do a great job of adding their own sound and not coming off as copycats).

If they were a mixture of other bands, here's what they'd be:
-The Buzzcocks (27%)
-Bloc Party (16%)
-Franz Ferdinand (16%)
-The Clash (12%)
-The Sex Pistols (9%)
-Razorlight (8%)
-The Replacements (5%)
-Sublime (4%)
-Television (3%)

The songs tend to run together a bit the first couple listens, but the more I listen to it, the more I like it and the more the songs become distinguishable. While I'm not ready to crown it the fifth best British album ever (as one British publication did), it is a well-crafted, catchy album.

Their first single, which you may have heard, is "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor." It's a fast-paced dance-punk song, featuring pounding drums, well-placed call-and-response, and driving guitars. Other highlights on the album are "The View From the Afternoon" (catchy, Buzzcocksy song that starts the album off rockin'), "Riot Van" (a slow and almost a capella song about bored cops harassing/beating drunk young adults), and "When the Sun Goes Down" (about seedy characters, it starts off slow, but then changes to more up-tempo).

Overall, I give Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not a rating of 5 Handrews*.

Arctic Monkeys on the Web:
Arctic Monkeys Home Page
Arctic Monkeys at MySpace.com
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not at Amazon.com

*GMYH CD Review Scale:
-6 Handrews - Buy it now. NOW!!
-5 Handrews - Excellent album that you should seriously consider purchasing in the near future
-4 Handrews - Very good album that you should at least check out on iTunes
-3 Handrews - If you want it, download it illegally
-2 Handrews - Somewhere between Britney Spears and William Hung
-1 Handrew - Ashlee Simpson
-0 Handrews - Kevin Federline