Arctic Monkeys
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
British European album of the year alreadyarctic monkeys were already massive way before they inked a deal with domino in june 2005 people obsessing over the songs soldout gigs full of stagediving nutcases hardcore fans pressed up against venue windows just hoping to catch a glimpse such checkpoints have all been ticked the boys may share a love of the smiths the clash and the jam but in no way were the monkeys ready to simply regurgitate the welltrodden britrock path rather they spent their school days listening to roots manuva braintax and other stuff on lowlife not to mention lyricist lounge compilations and rawkus records cuts like pharaoh monch another unique influence was mancunian poet john cooper clarke who alex is a huge recent fan of hence the razorsharp lyricism that fuels songs like a certain romance a witty observation of smalltown life where theres only music so that theres new ringtones and where going out could sometimes mean having a pool cue wrapped around your head elsewhere there were grim tales of girls whod ended up on the streets she dont do major credit cards i doubt she does receipts sun goes down and glorious swipes at the rocknroll clones that arose on the back of the great garage rock boom of 2002 yeah i'd like to tell you all my problemsyou're not from new york city you're from rotherham fake tales of san francisco this was life in satellitetown england as cutting and observant as anything youd hear from mike skinner containing thirteen newly recorded tracks some of which have never been heard before anywhere even amongst the diehard fans trading demos and versions on the internet this is a remarkable modern british debut order now and get a free 9 track domino sampler featuring tracks from tvp's arctic monkeys test icicles clearlake and more