The Rise and Fall of the Arctic Monkeys

Hello Procrastinators!

The Arctic Monkeys are one of the hottest properties in music at the moment: headlining festivals such as Leeds and Glastonbury, embarking on a worldwide tour and releasing another number 1 album. There's the rise, but also the fall. Through their Americanisation and re-branding of the band they have alienated their original audience: the British youth.

Yes, every band has to change and evolve to remain successful, but Arctic Monkeys seem to have forgotten their original identity. They now live in sunny LA, not dingy ol' Sheffield, a move which Alex Turner defended by saying that "LA is built on rock 'n' roll". True, but this just remonstrates how they've forgotten where they've come from.

Well, haven't they just grown up? I hear you wail at me. Their recent antics suggest not. The now infamous Alex Turner acceptance speech at the BRITs screamed out a desperate attempt to be different.

The original Arctic Monkeys were different without even making a conscious effort to be. Their first album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, exploded onto the scene and revolutionised British rock with its 'we don't give a fuck attitude'. The music had little meaning or moral message, it was about lads getting pissed, prostitutes, chavs, etc. and that was its brilliance. Pure unadulterated simplicity. Compare that to the most recent album, AM, which features a crescendo of different instruments and sounds, whilst also sounding remarkably similar to each other. It lacks soul and charisma, don't get me wrong some of the songs are very good, but as a lifelong Arctic Monkeys fan, it just clouds me with disappointment. It sounds like most generic indie/rock bands out there at the moment, not the genre-splitting Arctic Monkeys of 2005.

2005 Alex Turner

2015 Alex Turner

Then there's the front man, Alex Turner, once a scrawny northern lad with voice-breaking vocals, but now he's an international superstar and sex symbol, pursuing well-documented relationships with the likes of Alexa Chung and Arielle Vanderburg. 

The Arctic Monkeys are experiencing unprecedented levels of popularity and commercial success at the moment. But this is amongst adolescents and hipsters, not their original group of fans. It's now 'cool' to like them, so now you see people clad head-to-toe in merchandise but the only song they know is Do I Wanna Know? 

So, gone are the days of dodgy, but brilliant rhymes, like 'sumet' and 'stomach' and enter the days of deep, meaningful lyrics. Yuk. I wonder how long it'll be before they turn into Coldplay?

Connor x