Arctic Monkeys / Suck It And See / Domino
It’s almost shocking to swallow the Sheffield foursome are only 25, what with the platinum releases making outcries such as “all you people are vampires” a distant memory. Yet the dispatch on age is somewhat pleasing to hear on Suck It And See. The record sways like any Arctic Monkeys LP and often at times, conjures relations to the group’s catalog. “Library Pictures” streaks with a delirious 2006 pace, brashly introducing “All My Own Stunts” that takes Humbug’s murky makeup and lightens it up. The band’s declaration of having messed around with pop is true, as “Black Treacle” is refreshing with it summer-like riffs and backing vocals and answers a possible misconception. Though the sound is fun and amusing, Arctic Monkeys have not lost a step as instrumentalists. Nick O’Malley and Matt Helders still lace rhythms around your head, going from upbeat (“She’s Thunderstorms”) to doleful (“Piledriver Waltz”), and Jamie Cook continues to plead his case as an overlooked guitar virtuoso.
Suck It And See’s emotional drive however traces back to frontman Alex Turner. Once a fist of testosterone, Turner’s personified language has grown up; it’s become more or less a proud romantic. “It makes we wanna blow the candles out just to see if you glow in the dark,” he confesses on “The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala”, a far cry from his contagious wit that reverberates during the disc’s mid-point but is a similarity to the chorus of the album’s closer. Turner’s acceptance into being less direct and more intimately raw prevents Suck It And See from transforming into a sickly-sweet miscue by the group. “How I often wonder where you are / You have got that face that just says ‘baby, I was made to break your heart’.” A jump from the once-blasted “one-dimensional noise” tag, but as poisonous as the Arctic Monkeys drug that has yet to leave our veins over the past half-decade.
Download: “All My Own Stunts”, “That’s Where You’re Wrong”
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Spot on review. A lot of chaps forget the Monkeys are talented musicians.
guitar virtuoso, really!?! you lost all credibility with that remark.
he’s really good at guitar. I think he’s underrated as well. He has a very distinct personality in his playing, which is something most people don’t have.