AN OLD HEAD ON YOUNG SHOULDERS

S-WC gave Arctic Monkeys a thumbs-up in his posting yesterday.  I thought I’d follow it up today with a few words of my own.

I was very fortunate in getting to catch them live on a couple of occasions just as they were breaking through thanks to their inclusion on one of those tours that NME help put together.  They were third on a bill that was headlined by Maximo Park….a few months later they returned to the same venue – the Academy in Glasgow – as bona fide headliners.  They were a joy to watch and listen to.

The debut LP is now seven years old.  I gave it a listen again all the way through the other day and found that it is has aged superbly and must be considered not just one of the finest debut LPs of that decade but up there as one of the very best LPs of the past 25 years or so.

I remember also being hugely impressed at the band’s attitude to fame and fortune.  They were all too aware that the British press had a great habit of making you their darlings  and then in the blink of an eye moving on to the next big thing and writing things that turn last week’s darlings into this week’s laughing-stock. Which is why I thought it was a stroke of genius that the first of the new material post-debut LP was released with the title of Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?

We all want some one to shout for
Yeah, everyone wants somebody to adore
But your heroes aren’t what they seem
When you’ve been, where we’ve been

Have I done something to trigger
The funny looks and the sniggers?
Are they there at all
Or is it just paranoia

Cos everybody’s got their box
And doing what they’re told
You push my faith near being lost
But we’ll stick to the guns
Dont care if it’s marketing suicide
We wont crack or compromise
Your derisory divides
Will never unhinge us

Theres a couple of hundred
Think they’re Christopher Columbus
But the settlers had already settled
Here long before you

Just cos were having a say so
And not lining up to be play doh
In five years time will it be
Who the fucks Arctic Monkeys?

‘Cause everybody’s got their box
And doing what they’re told
You push my faith near being lost
But we’ll stick to the guns
Dont care if it’s marketing suicide
We wont crack or compromise
Your derisory divides
Will never unhinge us

All the thoughts that I just said
Linger round and multiply in the head
Not that bad to start with
I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed

It’s not you it’s them that are wrong
Tell ’em to take out their tongues
Tell ’em to take out their tongues

It’s not you it’s them that are wrong
Tell ’em to take out their tongues
Tell ’em to take out their tongues
And bring on the backlash

It’s not you it’s them that are wrong
Tell him to take out his tongue
Tell him to take out his tongue

It’s not you it’s them that’s the fake
I won’t mess with your escape
Is this really your escape?

Alex Turner was just 20 years of age when he wrote that lyric.  An old head on young shoulders.

And it’s great to realise that five years on his band are still as popular as ever. Here’s all five tracks on that 2006 EP:-

mp3 : Arctic Monkeys – The View From The Afternoon

mp3 : Arctic Monkeys – Cigarette Smoker Fiona

mp3 : Arctic Monkeys – Despair In The Departure Lounge

mp3 : Arctic Monkeys – No Buses

mp3 : Arctic Monkeys – Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?

Enjoy.