Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not — Arctic Monkeys — 10/10
No debate needed when I say this is the greatest ever debut album by any band. The raw energy and passion in this are immense, who knew tunes about nights out in Sheffield could be so great? But Alex Turner has a very special way with words, and the way he tells stories through songs as he paints a picture so clear and gets into little details that most people would overlook. It was released in 2006 becoming the fastest selling debut album, selling over 360,000 copies in its first week, due to its popular demand which brought the release date of the album forwards. At the bands earliest shows, before the release of the album, they would hand out free CDs with their music on it, which helped spread the name and create a hype around them. Overall, I’d say it was an indie rock/garage rock album. However, there are some other types of tracks such as ‘Riot Van’, which would be considered more of an indie tune. I love how Turner sings with his Sheffield accent throughout this album, it really helped them create their own original sound.
1. The View from the Afternoon
What a tune to set this album underway, with some amazing drumming showcasing Matt Helders’ ability and a rocky guitar which really gets me in a feeling it mood. This a track that you’d most definitely play air guitar too. The first verse is almost rapped, with the speed of the melody as Turner explains his night out. “Anticipation has the habit to set you up, for disappointment in evening entertainment but, tonight there will be some love” suggests that the writer always gets let down when looking for love on a night out but believes tonight will be different, which is also what he probably thinks at the start of every night. A lot of Brits love the reference to winning money on the fruit machine to only put it back in and lose it all, a thing which many people have experienced. It’s lines like this that I believe are genius, writing something simple yet relatable. It also explores how the lyricist experiences himself or other young men sending drunken text messages to girls, shown in the line, “and there’s verse and chapter sat in her inbox, and all that it says is you’ve drank a lot”. The guitar in this song changes from chord to chord so quickly, it’s a tricky one to play. I love the section in the song where everything comes to a stop, and the rhythm and lead guitar play a call and response and the song builds back up. My favourite line in this song is “I want to see all of the things that we’ve already seen, the lairy girls hung out the window of the limousine, of course its fancy dress”.
2. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
Ahh yes, ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ is such an iconic tune, the way the rocky, choppy guitar chords build the song up in the introduction followed by the lead guitar riff, with the drums crashing along and the bass line playing down the neck. Lyrically, it starts with Turner receiving looks from a girl which makes him feel uncomfortable, but at the same time is flattered by and doesn’t want her to stop. Matt Helders plays a vocal role by responding to Turners line “And your shoulders are frozen” with “cold as the night” which I think is a good feature in this song because Helders can sing and provides great backing vocals in many Monkeys tracks, but the fact that he can do that in this song and play the drums to the tempo of this song is simply unbelievable. Again, this story paints such a clear picture, to which I interpret him to wanting a girl who he believes wants him, but he doesn’t know what her intentions are. The way he bets she looks good on the dancefloor as he imagines her dancing to “electro pop like a robot from 1984”. A lyric that I admire the most in this song is “and no, there ain’t no love no, Montagues or Capulets”.
3. Fake Tales of San Francisco
A catchy drum and guitar riff sets this song away. For most of this song, it isn’t as heavy as the previous two, but is by no means a chilled-out song. Lyrically this song reveals the writer suggesting that a band from Yorkshire claims to have come back from America or more particularly, San Francisco, where he is telling his tales. All in all, it’s about a fake persona that this band is putting on and the writer just can’t bear to see it. The rocky guitar riff remains throughout the song until we reach the bridge, when the heavier sounding guitars remake an appearance. Just before this section, the last line of the verse is an iconic one, “Yeah, but his bird thinks its amazing though, so all that’s left, is the proof that loves not only blind but deaf”, which is also my favourite line in this song. Another line which I admire in this song is “And yeah I’d love to tell you my problem, you’re not from New York City you’re from Rotherham”, which now is amusing to look back on. With what is such a great line, it contradicts itself the way Alex Turner developed throughout the years, notably losing his strong Sheffield accent and in some ways becoming more American, which is notably seen during his AM days, but he’s Alex Turner, and I love him for that. The way they chant “Get off the bandwagon and put down the handbook” for me takes me back to my nostalgic college days when this was one of the songs we performed for the theme ‘Destination Anywhere’ and this line repeated is a standout memory for me.
4. Dancing Shoes
“Get on ya dancing shoes” open this track up the only way it should, with a catchy bassline and drums accompanying this, and there is anticipation for this song to change and it’s a sublime turn in the track when it reaches the ending of the chorus to go into the second verse. Turner almost shouts the line, “It’s what you’re there for don’t you know?”, which leads to the introduction of the electric guitar playing the same riff as the bassline. If you haven’t already got your dancing shoes on, then you will when this part of the song plays out. In terms of the story within the lyrics of this song, it appears to suggest a lad on a night out has seen a girl he has taken a fancy to, which is implied in the lines, “Oh, in the shit shock horror, you’ve seen your future bride, yeah, but it’s oh so absurd, for you to say the first word, so you’re waiting and waiting”. After the guitar solo, the song returns to the first verse, the only change being the second line, which suggests that the person bottling to speak to any girls is a reoccurring event. My favourite line from this song is, “And some might exchange a glance, and keep pretending to dance”.
5. You Probably Couldn’t See for the Lights, but You Were Staring Straight At Me
Wow, that’s a long song title, and it isn’t even mentioned once throughout this track! From what I have read online, the inspiration behind this song is Turner was in the crowd and took a liking to the female lead singer, and he believed she was staring straight at him, but she didn’t realise because of the lights. Now, I can see how this story could be true when we delve into the lyrics. “They don’t want to say hello, like I want to say hello”, shows the obsession the writer has with this girl, and how he knows all the other people in the crowd want to speak to this girl as well. If you didn’t research into this song then you would assume it’s about the writer seeing a girl on a night out, and in all honesty, I think Turner has just changed this to be about a night out and created a storyline around this singer. We can see that the lyricist is fumbling his words when he has the opportunity to speak with her, “And I’m talking gibberish, tip of the tongue and I can’t deliver it properly, and it’s all getting on top of me, and if it weren’t this dark, you’d see how red my face has gone”. I’d say track number five very much so has a garage rock sound to it. It consists of a distorted lead guitar, a drum beat which is just mental, again Helders provides backing vocals on this track, and a heavy strumming pattern. My favourite line from this song is, “I’m so tense, never tenser, could all go a bit Frank Spencer”.
6. Still Take You Home
It wasn’t an easy decision to make as I love every song on this album, but track number six takes the crown for most loved song of the album. It’s nothing less than a banger, the guitars with their rocky riffs, the drums crashing away, the bassline that gives it some extra flavour and of course, young Alex Turner describing another night out in Sheffield. Turner, in the first verse, describes a girl that he doesn’t seem to hold in high regard, but as the song progresses, he goes over to make conversation with her. It’s a girl who he has met before and she appears to have forgotten his name, but he knows this is all a part of her plan to play hard to get. He portrays this girl to love the attention as she has “everybody eating out of her hands”, insinuating all the drunken men in the club are all over her. In my opinion, the bridge in this song is a great feature, it breaks the song down with the drums and guitar riff and then it goes into a “Woah-oh-oh” from the vocalist and then the rocky sound of the song builds back up for an unbelievable final verse, my favourite line “I fancy you with a passion, you’re a top shop princess, a rockstar too”, opens up this section and it is just sang with pure raw freedom, I love it.
7. Riot Van
‘Riot Van’ is the alien track of the album with its chilled out, slow flowing instrumental as it tells a story about a group of young lads out having fun but getting into bother with the police. The first line “So up rolls a riot van, and sparks excitement in the boys” which suggests that this group of boys love the thrill of seeing the police. The drums only subtly play in this track, the main instrumental is the guitar strumming chords, with the bass line following this. Another way in which this song is different is it’s the first song to not be about a night out in Sheffield or a song about a girl. Turner clearly tells a story with simplicity including all the little details. I do love the laid-back approach of this song. My favourite line in this track is, “Have you been drinking son, you don’t look old enough to me, I’m sorry officer is there a certain age you’re supposed to be”.
8. Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured
This track was a contender for being favourite, this man amazes me because he can write a song about anything and make it sound great, this time being about discussing taxi arrangements after a night out. Following on from the soft and steady track that is ‘Riot Van’, it returns to its upbeat rhythm and catchy guitar riffs. In the opening verse, Turner is discussing getting a taxi and begins to tell a story to his friends about a girl he saw in a bar. I think the way this verse is structured is great as he sings, “You see her with the green dress? She talked to me at the bar. Well, how come its already two pound fifty? We’ve only gone about a yard. Didn’t you see she were gorgeous? She was beyond belief”. What I admire about this is how he’s structured it in chronological order. He started to tell the story, noticed the price of the taxi, and made a comment to the driver, but then continued with his tale. My favourite line in this song is the line that follows from the last, “But this lad at the side drinking his Smirnoff ice came and paid for her tropical reef”. I love how he specifically points this drink out where it appears he is making a dig at him for drinking it.
9. Mardy Bum
I have already reviewed this track for a song of the day, so I will keep this one brief. ‘Mardy Bum’ is a great tune which explores a relationship that is on the rocks and the writer is reminiscent of their good days, but it’s hard to remember it for long as the subject of the song is too moody, which is what the term mardy stands for. I love the clean tone of the guitar in this song and the way in which Turner continues to sing in his Yorkshire accent. My favourite line from this track is, “Well now then mardy bum, oh I’m in trouble again, aren’t I? I thought as much”.
10. Perhaps Vampire Is a Bit Strong But…
Another questionable song title that makes you wonder where Alex Turner got the inspiration from. A rarity of a song where Turner doesn’t play guitar on for the first part, and just like track one, it’s like he is rapping the lyrics. It’s a song that explores the people of Sheffield hoping that the Arctic Monkeys don’t make it big, and the writer says that he doesn’t care what they think, that they aren’t doing it for the money and just love playing music with their mates. This is shown in the lines, “And I don’t want your advice or praise” and “Though you pretend to stand by us, I know you’re certain we’ll fail”. I can’t lie, whenever I’ve heard this song, and that’s many times, I’ve never actually realised what the lyrics are about. I love how hardcore the guitar is on this track, it has an angry sound which could be relating to the annoyance of other people trying to put them down as a band. The instrumental section of this song is a great feature, and I’d say a highlight of this album. It sees out the rest of the song from when it starts, and then it comes to a temporary pause when Helders screams, “all you people are vampires” and then the track kicks back off. My favourite line in this song is, “I’ve seen your eyes as they fix on me, full of confusion, your snarl is just so condescending”.
11. When the Sun Goes Down
This is an epic tune, another way to prove how elite this album is with another banger. It starts off single strummed chords as Turner tells a story about a prostitute and a “scummy man” who preys on women like the subject in the song and treats them with no respect. The change from the introduction to the instrumental break is legendary, which takes this song up another level. Into the first verse, the writer describes the woman approaching the man for sex, which he turns down. However, in the chorus, it describes how this man’s actions might change, “when the sun goes down”. In the second verse, the singer describes the situation of this “scummy man” picking up a prostitute. As “he don’t even have to say owt” suggests that he is a regular customer, and she knows what he is after. She is happy to be getting out the cold which is why Turner implies that “she’s delighted when she sees him”. This track features a great deal of Yorkshire dialect in the vocals, but it is also a common theme throughout the album. Just like the introduction, the outro becomes instrumentally laid back, and the lyricist speaks directly to the woman about how she should avoid him and shouldn’t be involved with him. My favourite lyric in this track is the opening lines, “I said, who’s that girl there? I wonder what went wrong so that she had to roam the street”.
12. From the Ritz to the Rubble
Turner quickly opens this track by recollecting his night out and his experience with bouncers. Another case of the writer telling a story including so many details, this time he is explaining his dislike to the bouncers from this certain night and how they let the power they hold go to their heads and to boost their egos. It’s a verse like this which is so relatable as many people have had a bad experience with bouncers. A line that I love from this opening verse is, “He’s got no time for you, looking or breathing”, which suggests that if you as much look or breathe the wrong way in front of them, then they will take a disliking to you and single you out. As the song reaches the chorus, the writer suggests that they’re glad they weren’t allowed in the Ritz and puts it down to fate. The second verse suggests that they only did the things they did because they were drunk on the Saturday night, and now the next morning has come, they wouldn’t dream of doing that because they’re sober. Throughout the song, there are scratchy guitar chords and a rhythmic bassline that keeps the song flowing as we progress through the different sections of the song. For the first part of the bridge, the drums are relaxed, the bass isn’t playing, Turner sounds like he is talking to a subject in this song rather than singing and there is a distorted rhythm guitar playing. Turner says the lines, “Last night, what we talked about, it made so much sense, but now the haze has ascended it don’t make no sense anymore”, which then gets repeated, but this time the vocals get louder, the drums change up from just tapping on each beat and the bass re appears, this then leads into a long instrumental which sees the song out with “da-da-da-da-da”. My favourite line from this song, and there are many to choose from, is “instilled in your brain you’ve got something to prove to all the smirking faces and the boys in black, why can’t they be pleasant, why can’t they have a laugh”.
13. A Certain Romance
What a final track to complete their last album, which appears to have been recorded in a live take, due to Matt Helders asking, “should we keep it rolling?”. This song has a wide variety of sounds happening, as it is opened with a sound like a marching band and then a rocky guitar riff takes over, then the instrumental changes to what sounds like an explosion has gone off! It then goes to a peaceful guitar segment, which leads to the bass guitar taking the leading role with a siren sounding guitar as the vocals start. The lyrics in the first verse describe a group of people that actively look for trouble. Turner is making a dig at these people for the lack of romance in the area they live, and they can’t see that as they’re happy with the way they live their lives. In the chorus, the lyrics suggest that these people won’t change their minds on how they act and no amount of telling them is going to change it. Verse two explores the lack of beauty in their art of music as they only have music “so that there’s new ring tones”. My favourite line from this song can be found in this verse, which is “And just ’cause he’s had a couple of cans, he thinks its alright to act like a dickhead”. The final verse sees the writer reflecting on this group and not being able to get too angry with them because he grew up with a lot of them, so he lets it slide when they “overstep the line”.
To conclude this amazing album, there isn’t a track on there that I’d skip, it’s such an easy listen and I believe that it is one of the greatest albums by a British act. Taking us back to 2006 when Turner sang in his own accent, describing the lifestyle of a young lad going out and having different romances, I just love how he simply tells the story. There are so many memorable lyrics and melodies in these tunes. In terms of the instrumentals, there are a large amount of catchy iconic riffs and lots of unbelievable drumming. I remember when I was first shown the Arctic Monkeys by an old friend of mine and since that day I’ve never looked back, they really are a massive influence for me.
