ARCTIC MONKEYS WILL BE HUGE

photo by Andrew Kendall

The next big, or HUGE, thing to come out of Britain after... uhh, well there have been so many recently (franz ferdinand - kasabian - the futureheads - bloc party - etc.), bands that have made a splash on the charts and the covers of NME and Q. But the next BIG thing will be Sheffield, England's, Arctic Monkeys. The band, singer-guitarist, Alex Turner, guitarist Jamie Cook, bassist Andy Nicholson, and drummer Matt Helders, will release their debut album January 2006, but already released a single in the UK via Bang Bang Recordings on May 30. The single, Five Minutes With Arctic Monkeys, featured two tracks, ‘Fake Tales Of San Francisco’ and ‘From The Ritz To The Rubble’(Both were available on iTunes beginning May 23rd). They have also just released the single for 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor' on October 17th. Available on CD as well as vinyl, the vinyl single will be a double A-side and will feature 'Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts'. The CD release will also include a third track called 'Chun Li's Spinning Bird Kick'

These four young men, still in their teens I think, come at you with a touch of The Libertines, as so many have noted already, but they have some funk in their bones, at times a little like Supergrass with the funk turned up a couple of notchs. They surely sound fresh and young, not yet jaded by flashing cameras and mics that smell like beer. They also could very well be the next band that everyone loves to hate... hey, it's the yin and yang of rock 'n roll. And quite often, thanks to the media, the yin and yang are one and the same--thank you British music journalists!

A good sized chunk of mp3 demos were wisely made available (by the band's management, I believe) months ago, but were eventually pulled offline. More than likely because it was obvious the band had stirred up enough excitement. You will find their upcoming album on the British arm of Domino Records, not one of my favourite labels, and yet they have made some of those demo mp3s available once again.

Oh, yeah... the music is very good, as are the lyrics.

(THESE LINKS ARE WORKING, THEY ARE FROM DOMINO RECORDS. RIGHT CLICK AND SAVE TARGET AS...)

+ Fake Tales Of San Francisco
+ From The Ritz To The Rubble
+ I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor
+ Mardy Bum
+ Scummy
+ Dancing Shoes

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Watch the video for 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor'

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CHECK OUT THIS *SIXEYES POST FOR ARCTIC MONKEYS LYRICS