AUDIO JUNKIE:
Finally, The Arctic Monkeys are back! And just in time, too, because we've been jonesing for a while now for some major Brit-rock sounds. And here comes our favorite band from Sheffield, England.
Arctic Monkeys
The Arctic Monkeys have new look and new sound. Supposedly being in the same band and having released five albums prior to the new one, it was inevitable for singer-songwriter-guitarist Alex Turner, drummer Matthew Helders, guitarist Jamie Robert Cook, and bassist Nicholas O'Malley to shake things up a bit.
But man, what is this? For their sixth album “Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino,” Arctic Monkeys have totally re-tooled their sound. Gone are the riff-driven, indie-garage-alt rock sound we've grown to love and in place of it, “a collection of brooding, cosmic lounge-pop.” At least, that's how one description of their new album went.
To our ears, though, Arctic Monkeys' sound is closer to classic rock and rock-jazz fusion. Opening with the jazzy turnarounds and shimmering keyboards of “Star Treatment” wherein Turner sings jokingly, "I just wanted to be one of The Strokes / Now look at the mess you made me make/ hitchhiking with a monogrammed suitcase / miles away from any half-useful highway." That opening almost makes up for the long wait. A loving reference to their co-early naughts band The Strokes? Cool.
Next song “One Point Perspective” we totally get. Turner croons, "Dancing in my underpants / I'm gonna run for government / I'm gonna form a covers band and all," sure sounds like the singer has got a lot of time on his hand to daydream and while the time away. Aren't all men like that at some point? At least Turner's got this song.
“A watering hole on the moon provides the conceptual framework,” said the press about Alex Turner's musings for the whole album. --- In short, he went “Major Tom” for this outing. And as we listen to the title track, we're reminded of David Bowie. If you know your classic rock, you can think of the songs here as the continuation of the story of "Spiders From Mars," except it's 40 years into the future and the space station in the moon's "Sea Of Tranquility" has a dive bar, and you have your space crooner in Alex Turner.
The closest to rocking the Arctic Monkeys have come here is with that excellent track “Four Out Of Five,” with its crawl-groove riffing and shimmering keys and guitars. Fortunately there's a video clip of the band performing this song live on "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon" and we see that Alex Turner has traded his guitar for the keys. By the way, the band looked cool and Turner looked like Milo Ventimiglia from “This Is Us.”
'Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino' official album art
In a separate taped interview, the singer mentioned that, “the guitar has lost its ability to give me ideas,” answering why he made the switch. He added “I sat with a guitar and I was suspicious of where it was going to go. I think I had a pretty good idea of what the outcome might be. Which was completely contradictory to what I felt when I sat (in front of the) piano. And suddenly my Imagination was ignited once more.” Hence a whole album written on the piano, and the resulting songs are totally different from what we're accustomed to from The Arctic Monkeys.
But don't lose heart, the music here is sure to grow in you after repeated listens. Hot spots include the Beatle-esque “The World's First Ever Monster Truck Front Flip” which somewhat reminds us of “For The Benefit Of Mr Kite,” but only fleetingly. Slow cooking “She Looks Fine” has corners which reminds us of Clapton's band Blind Faith, and howbout that brief, George Harrison-styled guitar solo? Those and the space lounge piano sound of “Batphone” and Turner's Nick Cave-like baritone in the righteous ballad “The Ultracheese,” are definite must-listens.
So many comparisons! But this is not meant to take anything away from Arctic's Monkey's latest work. What we're saying is that even in this mode, the Arctic Monkeys are always worth it.
Arctic Monkeys
The Arctic Monkeys have new look and new sound. Supposedly being in the same band and having released five albums prior to the new one, it was inevitable for singer-songwriter-guitarist Alex Turner, drummer Matthew Helders, guitarist Jamie Robert Cook, and bassist Nicholas O'Malley to shake things up a bit.
But man, what is this? For their sixth album “Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino,” Arctic Monkeys have totally re-tooled their sound. Gone are the riff-driven, indie-garage-alt rock sound we've grown to love and in place of it, “a collection of brooding, cosmic lounge-pop.” At least, that's how one description of their new album went.
To our ears, though, Arctic Monkeys' sound is closer to classic rock and rock-jazz fusion. Opening with the jazzy turnarounds and shimmering keyboards of “Star Treatment” wherein Turner sings jokingly, "I just wanted to be one of The Strokes / Now look at the mess you made me make/ hitchhiking with a monogrammed suitcase / miles away from any half-useful highway." That opening almost makes up for the long wait. A loving reference to their co-early naughts band The Strokes? Cool.
Next song “One Point Perspective” we totally get. Turner croons, "Dancing in my underpants / I'm gonna run for government / I'm gonna form a covers band and all," sure sounds like the singer has got a lot of time on his hand to daydream and while the time away. Aren't all men like that at some point? At least Turner's got this song.
“A watering hole on the moon provides the conceptual framework,” said the press about Alex Turner's musings for the whole album. --- In short, he went “Major Tom” for this outing. And as we listen to the title track, we're reminded of David Bowie. If you know your classic rock, you can think of the songs here as the continuation of the story of "Spiders From Mars," except it's 40 years into the future and the space station in the moon's "Sea Of Tranquility" has a dive bar, and you have your space crooner in Alex Turner.
The closest to rocking the Arctic Monkeys have come here is with that excellent track “Four Out Of Five,” with its crawl-groove riffing and shimmering keys and guitars. Fortunately there's a video clip of the band performing this song live on "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon" and we see that Alex Turner has traded his guitar for the keys. By the way, the band looked cool and Turner looked like Milo Ventimiglia from “This Is Us.”
'Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino' official album art
In a separate taped interview, the singer mentioned that, “the guitar has lost its ability to give me ideas,” answering why he made the switch. He added “I sat with a guitar and I was suspicious of where it was going to go. I think I had a pretty good idea of what the outcome might be. Which was completely contradictory to what I felt when I sat (in front of the) piano. And suddenly my Imagination was ignited once more.” Hence a whole album written on the piano, and the resulting songs are totally different from what we're accustomed to from The Arctic Monkeys.
But don't lose heart, the music here is sure to grow in you after repeated listens. Hot spots include the Beatle-esque “The World's First Ever Monster Truck Front Flip” which somewhat reminds us of “For The Benefit Of Mr Kite,” but only fleetingly. Slow cooking “She Looks Fine” has corners which reminds us of Clapton's band Blind Faith, and howbout that brief, George Harrison-styled guitar solo? Those and the space lounge piano sound of “Batphone” and Turner's Nick Cave-like baritone in the righteous ballad “The Ultracheese,” are definite must-listens.
So many comparisons! But this is not meant to take anything away from Arctic's Monkey's latest work. What we're saying is that even in this mode, the Arctic Monkeys are always worth it.