On the Shelf 199: Arctic Monkeys
Sep. 20th, 2018 07:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23After the Arctic Monkey's fifth record- 2013's AM, it would not be unexpected that their next record would be "Album of the Year" material. Interestingly, those expectations may have been rattled by the actual release of record number six - Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino.
But here we are. With a very divisive record which may be loved or tossed away, but for me is the Monkeys strongest statement yet.
The Monkeys arrived on the scene in the midpart of the century's first decade. Britpop had rose in the 90s and levelled off with the chart-watching, mass-pleasing Oasis, Travis and Keane, to see a post Y2K explosion of talent- Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, Kaiser Cheifs, Maximo Park,the Zutons, the Libertines, Hard Fi, the Editors, and others. Too late for this wave, they joined the Rifles, Razorlight, the Ordinary Boys and Kasabian as the sound of 2006.
Whatever People Say I am, That's What I am not broke sales records and "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" was such a great debut single, it almost solidified the idea that this band was going to be a one hit wonder.
Interestingly, they didn't go away, and in 2011 with AM broke alt-rock radio. In a post- Spotify/streaming post-record label post-U2 post-everything world they were a perfect sound to join the likes of Muse, the Killers and Foo Fighters in a post-four guys with guitars world Of course "Why'd you only call me when you're High?" got the publicity, singles like "R U Mine" and "Do i wanna Know?" have become alt-rock staples in ways that only songs like "Take Me Out" or "Pumped Up Kicks" have. In a world without rock bands, Arctic Monkeys are one of the world's biggest.
To build on that success would make sense. but the title gives the game away on this one. Wait, what? On first lesson, this is clearly the work of someone raised on Bowie. It drips of the Thin White Duke. It's Space oddity, Station to Station and Scary Monsters. But whereas Bowie was clever, witty, smirking, even pointed and incisive, he had humorous moments, but was never just funny.
Is this a tribute? A parody? Is it's antecedents really "Ashes to Ashes" or is it more clearly aligned with Flight of the Conchords "Bowie in Space" or the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
I suppose it depends on what you think of Alex Turner's heavily Bolanesque lounge singer persona. Radiohead would never do this. Radiohead would give you OK Computer or Hail to the Thief or Kid A- unflinching, unblinking futuristic peeks.
Here, the most apt comparison might be Jarvis Cocker. Indeed, Turner is trying to reinvent himself as the next in line of great British eccentrics like Luke Haines and Neil Hannon. He may even still grow up to be Mark E Smith.
Pitchfork wrote multiple articles and devoted paragraph after paragraph to the album's opening line "I Just wanted to be one of the Strokes". I can see why. It's too tempting of a hook for a professional music writer, but it doesn't tell the right story. On the table-setting opener, Star Treatment, the real hint is dug further in "What do you mean, you've never seen Blade Runner?"
Star Treatment is a strong opener, and the strongest songs come in at #4 and #6. The two singles - the title track which has Turner as a Jarvis Cocker cool receptionist dripping with teh sexy, while "4 out of 5" puts the idea of the album into a near-perfect five minute pop song.
Nothing approaches these songs, but instead of highs and lows, it's more ebbs and flows. No duff tracks, just bon mots and quips to get it you to the new track. "Golden Trunks" imagines some surely far-away century in which the leader of the Free World reminds you of a wrestler wearing tight golden trunks. "Batphone" reveals our hero who sells a fragrance called "Integrity", selling the fact he can't be bought.
You know, rock and space go way back. Bowie, Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, Rush, P-Funk, Sun Ra, Klaatu, Spirtualized, Voivod, Monster Magnet and plenty of prog rock, stoner rock, glam, psych, shoegaze, noise, krautrock even funk.
But you know no one has ever travelled into space in a post-Yelp world, in a post-Expedia world, in a post-Twitter, post-Instagram, Post- Hard Rock Cafe, post-iPhone, post-pop-up ads, post-Kardashian world. So maybe these guys are geniuses after all. Embrace it and don't worry at all that Thom Yorke would never have done this.
