I've broken my own rule. Rather, I've broken my own prejudice. I honestly think music is impossible to review purely because it's subject to the individual listener's taste--there's too much of it. How can you put one album in the context of the entire history of music, ever?
Well, you can't. However, I've listened to every album of the Arctic Monkeys since Beneath the Boardwalk, and so--much like Hari Seldon's psychohistoy problem--I just needed a smaller scale: the context of the band's history.
Suck It And See is hypnotically rythmic, though a vast departure from their earlier smash hits Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not and Favourite Worst Nightmare--I'd even go as far to say it's a bigger departure than their Humbug album. If you're expecting the old inexplicable punk/rythm/blues/electric hybrid you heard in their olden days, you're going to be sorely dissapointed, as I was at first.
I think someone broke Alex Turner's heart. The reason I say this is because he is the heartbeat of this band, and though everyone else is insanely talented he's the crucible and the cross section. Examining the Arctic Monkeys' music is examining Alex Turner, plain and simple. And Suck It And See is a heartbreak album, more or less. While his lyrics have always leaned toward the dreary, longing side (see View From the Afternoon), Alex has never DOMINATED their songs with his words, rather letting the instruments do the talking (the last two minutes of A Certain Romance, 505, etc). However, in their newest album, his lyrics are all you hear; not to mention he pauses...a...lot.
I mentioned the album was hypnotically rythmic. Depending on who you are, you may be enraptured by this or put to sleep (I fell somewhere down the middle). But this hypnotic quality fosters a predictability that I've NEVER heard from them before. It's maddening when you can guess what a song sounds like in the next five seconds--without ever listening to it before. Listen to From the Ritz to the Rubble--one of my favorite songs ever--and tell me if you can predict anything. You can't. You won't. But Suck It And See is predictable, melodramatic, and moody.
(As an aside, I'd like to point out that their music usually featured these huge build-ups and ended with an orgasmic finish--that's all gone too.)
That's not to say it's bad music. This band can produce any sound it wants with quality and feeling. The Arctic Monkeys became popular because no one had heard anything like them before--but you've heard Suck It And See millions of times, from every two-bit emo band to Three Day's Grace.
Alex Turner, please get laid again so your band can produce the a-mazing music that defined my teenage years/high school/love life/friendships/pretty-much-everything. Thanks.
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Favorite Songs: Brick By Brick / The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala / Don't Sit Down Cause I've Moved Your Chair
Well, you can't. However, I've listened to every album of the Arctic Monkeys since Beneath the Boardwalk, and so--much like Hari Seldon's psychohistoy problem--I just needed a smaller scale: the context of the band's history.
Suck It And See is hypnotically rythmic, though a vast departure from their earlier smash hits Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not and Favourite Worst Nightmare--I'd even go as far to say it's a bigger departure than their Humbug album. If you're expecting the old inexplicable punk/rythm/blues/electric hybrid you heard in their olden days, you're going to be sorely dissapointed, as I was at first.
I think someone broke Alex Turner's heart. The reason I say this is because he is the heartbeat of this band, and though everyone else is insanely talented he's the crucible and the cross section. Examining the Arctic Monkeys' music is examining Alex Turner, plain and simple. And Suck It And See is a heartbreak album, more or less. While his lyrics have always leaned toward the dreary, longing side (see View From the Afternoon), Alex has never DOMINATED their songs with his words, rather letting the instruments do the talking (the last two minutes of A Certain Romance, 505, etc). However, in their newest album, his lyrics are all you hear; not to mention he pauses...a...lot.
I mentioned the album was hypnotically rythmic. Depending on who you are, you may be enraptured by this or put to sleep (I fell somewhere down the middle). But this hypnotic quality fosters a predictability that I've NEVER heard from them before. It's maddening when you can guess what a song sounds like in the next five seconds--without ever listening to it before. Listen to From the Ritz to the Rubble--one of my favorite songs ever--and tell me if you can predict anything. You can't. You won't. But Suck It And See is predictable, melodramatic, and moody.
(As an aside, I'd like to point out that their music usually featured these huge build-ups and ended with an orgasmic finish--that's all gone too.)
That's not to say it's bad music. This band can produce any sound it wants with quality and feeling. The Arctic Monkeys became popular because no one had heard anything like them before--but you've heard Suck It And See millions of times, from every two-bit emo band to Three Day's Grace.
Alex Turner, please get laid again so your band can produce the a-mazing music that defined my teenage years/high school/love life/friendships/pretty-much-everything. Thanks.
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Favorite Songs: Brick By Brick / The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala / Don't Sit Down Cause I've Moved Your Chair
