Tranquility Bass Hotel & Casino, After the Moon Landing

‘” Have you been drinking son? You don’t look old enough to me.” “I’m sorry officer is there a certain age you’re supposed to be?”’

Rock group and global superstars Arctic Monkeys have somehow done the impossible. Out of all the rock groups that dominated the 2000’s music scene, The Libertines, The Strokes, The Kaiser Chiefs and pretty much every group that had ‘the’ and the start of their name, Arctic Monkeys have managed to stay relevant. When I say relevant, I mean relevant to their newer music, Mr Brightside is a timeless classic but ask anyone for a Killer’s song written after 2010 and you’ll get very few answers.

Hailing from High Green, Sheffield the group flew into the mainstream with the debut album Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not in 2006 and became the fastest selling single Britain had ever seen. Capturing the feelings of the UK nightscape with Riot Van, Red Lights Indicate Doors Are Secure and I Bet That You Look Good on The Dancefloor. Heavily inspired by The Libertines and The Strokes this was a fresh take on UK rock with a fast tempo that pulled you along, took you for a spin and left you begging for more.

‘And to tear apart the ties that bind, perhaps fuck off might be too kind’

And more we got, in 2007 they rode the wave of success from the last album and topped the UK Album Chart. They kept a lot of the same sounds but added a darker tone to it. In Fluorescent Adolescent which tells the story of an aging woman as she fantasizes of her exploits with men in her younger days and in 505 Alex explores memories of a heartbreak. Here the group delve into deeper subject matters and Alex’s lyricism begins to come out in full. We also begin to hear the signature high pitched guitars that they use to create an unsettling atmosphere, this can be heard in Do Me a Favour and Old Yellow Bricks.

‘What came first? The chicken or the dickhead. Split screen reaps rewards and ill-fitting thoughts’

I’m going to put both Suck It and See and Humbug together, both topped UK album charts and are extremely solid albums with both the albums to be the first to be written and recorded mostly in America. More specifically Humbug was co-produced by Josh Homme of Queen’s of The Stone Age and recorded in the Mojave Desert and it shows, where Humbug is a dark, almost psychedelic in places and with hints of stoner rock from Homme, Suck it and See is a slow, sweet, very emotional look into Alex Turner’s psyche.

' Don't take it so personally, you're not the only one' That time has got it in for honey, that's where you're wrong

It does seem drummer Matt Helders couldn’t rest without at least one test in his drumming ability, so right in the middle we are thrown into this fast, heavy spin with Library Pictures, perfectly dividing the album between the more instrument heavy songs and straight up love songs. I have to say lyrically these two albums are standout albums not just in Turner’s repertoire but of all time. Whether it’s the metaphor heavy, almost cryptic lyrics of Humbug or the lovesick ballads of Suck It and See, there is a definite case for these two albums being cult classics within the fan base.

‘I wanna be your vacuum cleaner, breathing in your dust. I wanna be your Ford Cortina, I will never rust’

And now onto the big one. AM released in 2013 and brought Arctic Monkeys from being a beloved English rock band to international sensations. Here the lads go back to heavy, fuzzy rock tunes but using simple and catchy metaphors and it mirrors Drake era lyricism. Simple, relatable songs with a memorable hook and a hell of a kick. The album opens with Do I Wanna Know, arguably their most universally recognised tune and a bop to boot. Currently sitting at 854 million views on YouTube easily being the most viewed music video by the band followed closely by R U Mine, the second song off the album.

The main thing to take from this album is that it breathed a breath of fresh air to the band and gave them a whole new audience, 13-year olds like me who thought they knew everything about love and the importance of a leather jacket. This record did the impossible and brought new, alternative rock back to mainstream nightclubs for the first time in almost a decade. A pet hate amongst long-time fans of the band you would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t know the chorus to Do I Wanna Know. This record was a blast from the past with somewhat of a modern twist lyrically. After the promo tour the group went on a hiatus indefinitely leaving all their new fans to get stuck into their back catalogue.

Just as a side note, in 2007 and 2016 Alex Turner and long-time friend Miles Kane released two albums as a side project under the alias 'The Last Shadow Puppets'.

The Age of The Understatement and Everything You’ve Come to Expect, both solid records almost a decade apart, they allowed Alex to experiment with a mix between full on psychedelic and orchestral rock and a great look into the mind of the artist.

First there were the rumours. Then the tweets confirming the album. Then on April 5th, 2018 a trailer. This trailer showed what looked like blue-prints, until by a cardboard mock-up of the prints is revealed, all the while a spacey type of sound never heard before by the group accompanied it before cutting to black and the words Tranquillity Base Hotel and Casino followed by the riff to what we now know as Four Out of Five. The date was set. On May 11th our boys would come out of retirement but what would they bring to the table? Would it be heard in our nightclubs and rise to YouTube stardom?

The answer? A big no. The album was a complete change in tone in comparison any other album and rivalled Humbug in terms of how dramatic the change of style was. With spacey, echoey vibes and use of piano and synthesizers in the place of guitar this was jarring for some fans and divided the fan base down the middle and funnily enough managed to put the younger generation who wanted another AM into the same camp as the older generation who really just wanted another Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not. Neither wanted the others album of choice but they certainly didn’t want this. Where had Alex’ ferocity as a frontman and Matt Helders insane drumming gone? In their pace came a slow, atmospheric concept album based on a hotel on the moon sharing the same name as the album.

‘I just wanted to be one of The Strokes, now look at the mess you’ve made me make’

Originally planned a solo album Alex thought that it would be unfair to not give credit where it was due to his bandmates who worked on the album which would explain the change in direction of their sound. I vividly remember the day after the album was released going into school and seeing the disappointment in my friends’ eyes. Diehard fans such as I loved every bit of the album save for ‘She Looks Like Fun’ and ‘The Worlds First Monster Truck Front Flip’. Others, however, were not so pleased. They were expecting the Monkeys to come back swinging. To bring them back to the stratosphere. It was their 6th album in a row to reach No.1 in the UK Album chart.

Once the moon dust had settled the album seems to have done better, it seems like this album will age like Dandelion and Burdock (lets see who gets that reference). From what I can see, most of the bad press surrounding the album came from those expecting something it wasn’t going to be or ever could be. Where they wanted the band to rise from their graves they instead emerged from a cocoon and became something very different. This record is on the same tier in terms of lyricism as Suck It and See and Humbug, like seriously even if you don’t like the instrumentation you have to hand it to him for his ability to use metaphor is astounding. Alex has said his time writing on a piano allowed him to create his very own world and it shows. They have released two singles since. Anyways and ‘- - ‘(yes that is the name of a song). Both great songs with a ballad like air to them and heavy focus on the emotion and atmosphere brought by the lyrics and organ.

It seems this is how the Arctic Monkeys plan on continuing and honestly, I love it. I first got in to them to try and fit in with the emo kids having their My Chemical Romance phases, meanwhile I was blaring AM through my shitty pair of apple earphones. I soon fell in love with songs like for 505 and That’s Where You’re Wrong for the emotional payoff while still going mental every time Brianstorm or Dancing Shoes played at a party for the pure energy of the group. They served as a guiding path through my adventures in indie and noughties rock and an appreciation for lyricism and for that I’ll have a special place in my heart for them which is what compelled me to write this in the first place.

So best of luck to you lads, whatever way you decide to go rest assured I’ll be listening.