The Arctic Monkeys- Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not

When I was in high school, there were two big bands in my friend group: The Strokes and The Arctic Monkeys. I always preferred the Arctic Monkeys. Their songs were fun to perform, and had such high energy, and great lyrics to boot: “Used to get it in your fishnets/now you only get it in your nightdress/ discarded all the naughty nights for niceness/ landed in a very common crisis.” It might not be Wordsworth, but to me there was a beauty to the rhythm and the bluntness of these lyrics.

And I still do. As soon as I turned on the album I wasn’t transported in a nostalgic sense, but in a musical sense. The music lifted me, energized me. It made me happy.

I suppose it would behoove me to try and explain why. The guitar work is definitely a factor. If I had to guess, I’d say the Arctic Monkeys took as one of their influences artists from the British Ska Scene. Combine two parts ska with three parts punk, and you’ve got the musical equivalent of a battery constantly producing electricity.

And the lyrics are actually better than I remember them! Yes old classics, the ones I remember are still good: “Last night these two bouncers/ one of em’s alright the other one’s a scary one/ his way or no way totalitarian.” But the album’s lyrics have a theme I didn’t appreciate, maybe couldn’t appreciate until I went to college and started to go to parties.

I realized that a large part of partying is actually dark and kind of sad. These songs are about going out with the lads and having fun, yes, but it’s also about the lonely walk home, and about the mixed feelings you can have at a fun party, and that speaks more to my experience than any album I’ve listened to in a while.

5/5 This album can only improve your life. It’s short, so there’s really no reason not to check it out.