Arctic Monkeys
Favourite Worst Nightmare

THE REVIEW

The first record by the Arctic Monkeys was a nice mix of youthful cheekiness, great riffs and rhythms, catchy choruses just perfect for being played in rock discos, and an annoyingly fitting voice to get categorized among indie bands by the clueless.

A very nice album, despite everything, with some songs that I never skip when shuffle presents them to me, but which I hardly ever hunt down when I want to listen to something.

Therefore, I have to say I wasn't eagerly awaiting the release of the second installment, nor did I have any of those feelings like "let's see if they're capable of saving rock 'n' roll" or "let's see if they stayed as hard and pure as they were at the beginning or if they've sold out too."

(Side note: what the hell's the point of making a record if you don't want to sell it? I scarcely even believe in singer-songwriters as possibly cursed artist types, let alone four guys in their twenties who just want to score and make a racket sitting down to play together to express their existential tedium or create immortal art. The only reason to form a group and play is for the groupies, which is why there are thousands of guitar players and few players of the English horn. Having said that: you can sell subpar, decent, good, or magnificent stuff, that's the only possible difference. End of side note).

So: I expected nothing from these four horny twenty-somethings, and the single Brianstorm pleasantly surprised me: great, brisk, with finally decent guitar sounds, with a singer who complains much less than before, and above all with a compact and powerful rhythm section that speaks directly to the testosterone of us males (proof: I subjected my girlfriend to a few listens, and she always looked at me with the expression "so what?" or got distracted within the first twenty seconds, while I was trying to tell her: listen to the drums! listen to the bass!). The rest of the album doesn't keep up the tension in the same way: Arctic Monkeys decided to insert some pseudo-ballads ("Only Ones Who Know", neither exceptional nor original), and not all the tracks are at the single's level. The first four tracks are saved – though less direct – including Brianstorm, which if they had been released as an EP would have made people shout a miracle ("Teddy Picker", "D is for Dangerous", "Balaclava") – and the last track, "505", this one truly GREAT. For the rest, it's a matter of coasting, filling the three minutes of traditional song structure in the least strenuous way possible, and bringing home the bacon.

Of course, to appreciate it all, you need some tricks: while listening to the album, do something else that keeps 20% of your attention free ("505" excluded, that one can be just listened to), pretend you don't understand English and don't look up the lyrics on the official site, no longer believe in the possibility that someone will come to save rock 'n' roll (whether you think it's dead or believe it doesn't need saving).

Have fun!