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After getting tanned under the scorching sun of some California beach during the "Suck And See It" era, now the sand and the beautiful season are just a fond memory. The new geographical and temporal coordinates are pubs, vodka, cigarettes, night, hangover, and AM!
The Arctic Monkeys are undoubtedly the British band straddling between indie background and mainstream circus numbers most in the spotlight at the moment alongside Kasabian, a sort of arm wrestling one might say.
Remember "Suck It And See", don't you? Well, erase it entirely and change your deck of cards, because here the game and table have changed again. And now a new seasoned player has joined this table, one Josh Homme. No more singer-songwriting and gentle and sweet atmospheres of a minstrel coming from the 60's and 70's, the AM have turned on the night lights and maybe even the fog lights.
The album, despite the many influences flaunted (hip hop, r 'n' b, stoner), proves to be compact and fast-flowing among more adrenaline-pumping sounds, the well-known "R U Mine?", and the elegance of stoner-pop in "Arabella" with delicious final fireworks, passing through the good "One For The Road" and "I Want It All" where the vocal line closely resembles Matthew Bellamy and globally the latest Muse, and getting to the point with the Beatles-like ballad with the Turner+piano combo "No. 1 Party Anthem".
What else is there to say? That "Mad Sounds" is a fleeting, decontextualized sketch from what was the 2011 album, that "Do I Wanna Know?" was a winning breakthrough, and that the two closing tracks "Knee Socks" and "I Wanna Be Yours" are two little pop gems, sensual the first, enveloping and nocturnal the second.
Sure, thinking that this is the music playing in the United Kingdom makes us reflect and draw comparisons on what we consider mainstream music here and conclude that there's a spread between us and them that brings distress.
The Arctic Monkeys lay down the poker hand, and what do Kasabian do? Do they fold or raise?
Rating: 8+
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By Ociredef86
Just listen to "Do I Wanna Know" to understand how much they have changed.
AM is an album that is pleasant to listen to, twelve tracks that never bore, that do not reek of déjà vu even if they are inspired by the great figures of the past.
