The beginnings of Arctic Monkeys

With Whatever you say I am, that’s what I’m not, the Arctic Monkeys are entering the world of music through the very big door. An album with an extended title and devastating talent

It is January 23, 2006 and a new group appears on the European music scene: the Arctic Monkeys. Led by the very young Alex Turnerthe four Britons hit the shelves with a first album with an extended title: Whatever you say I am, that’s what I’m not. And because, obviously, the group loves to give very long and expressive names to its creations, the first single set the tone: “I bet you look good on the dancefloor”.

But strangely, the titles almost as long as a sentence by Marcel Proust do not discourage lovers of good music. The album sold well, very well in fact! Sold more than a million copies in the United Kingdom, it also went platinum in Australia, and gold in four other countries. The disc even managed to become thefastest selling album in Great Britain.

And this public success is also found in the music press. WECB, The Guardian, Uncut, NME… All specialist titles are quick to welcome the release of the album, recognizing here “ a touch of Oasis » and there, a “ sound that seems to have been stitched together from tracks from retro-minded bands such as The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand“.

If certain titles claim that the group will not go down in the history of music – they can bite their fingers today – the skeptics are rarer…

Arctic Monkeys’ latest album, The Car, is available. Alex Turner talks about his behind the scenes in an interview with WECB.