As teenagers, England's Arctic Monkeys were subjected to a hype unimaginable for most bands let alone one made up of no one yet in their twenties. Their great 2006 debut was everything expected of it; nothing fancy or flashy, just pure blasts of audio entertainment. The following year they matured and expanded their sound to flesh out yet another great album in Favourite Worst Nightmare. Now, two years down the road, these lads have once again evolved their sound to release another album; Humbug. To help the Monkeys along this time is Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss) who produced the album in such a way that he did not steer the boys in the direction of his "stoner rock" persona but rather polished up and streamlined their ideas and songwriting talents. Swirling guitars, slower tempos (as well as radical tempo changes), and embracing Brit-pop ("Cornerstone" is prime Brit-pop) are but a few tricks thrown into Humbug. Tracks here are also longer in length, totally abandoning the two minutes, aggressive tunes of their debut; instead going for more structured and plotted out tracks ("Pretty Visitors" manages to pull together old AM and Humbug AM). In the end, this album isn't the youthful joy of Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not nor the well-rounded album that was Favourite Worst Nightmare, but it is another enjoyable release from a band who, scary to think, haven't even reached their 25th birthdays yet.
3.6/5.0
WEB SHERIFF
ReplyDeleteProtecting Your Rights on the Internet
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Hi Tyler,
On behalf of Domino Records and the Arctic Monkeys, we would kindly ask you not to post copies of "Humbug" on your site (or any non-preview tracks from the Arctic Monkeys' new album - release date 24th August).
We do appreciate that you are fans of / are promoting the Arctic Monkeys, but the label and artist would greatly appreciate your co-operation in removing your links to the pirate files in question.
Thank you for respecting the artist's and label's wishes and, if you / your readers want good quality, non-pirated, preview tracks, then a full length version of "Crying Lightning" is available for fans and bloggers to link to / post / host etc ... .. two videos from the web transmission of the band performing the new album are also available at www.webtransmission.arcticmonkeys.com/videos.php ... .. for further details of the new album, on-line promotions, videos and 2009 shows, check-out the official Arctic Monkeys site at www.arcticmonkeys.com, as well as www.myspace.com/arcticmonkeys and www.youtube.com/user/ArcticMonkeys ... .. and keep an eye on these official sources for details of further Arctic Monkeys news, mixes, preview material and on-line promotions.
As you will appreciate, this post is written on a without prejudice basis and, as such, all of our clients' accumulated, worldwide rights and remedies remain strictly reserved : please excuse this required formality.
With Thanks & Regards,
WEB SHERIFF