Here is the scene. A band is playing, the crowd is going wild, playing a sellout show, a sense of togetherness one had never experienced before, walking off stage after a good encore and everybody around saying ‘what a gig’ etc. Then, feelings of anxiety and a period of reflection set in. The adrenaline wearing off and something was not quite right. My relationship and view of the Arctic Monkeys had forever changed after their Marley Park gig on that summers day in 2014.
They were the first band I could really remember really affecting me and having me hooked on guitar music. Man when I was 9/10 I played ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ into ground. I put more effort into learning that song than basically anything I ever did in 6 years of secondary school. They also had a huge influence of me learning bass guitar/ guitar. Basically their songs were simple but a new appreciation came in because these were simple, which showed you didn’t need to be something musical genius to do.
Mind you I also wore a shirt to the Marley Park gig with ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’ on it because basically I’m cool as fuck.
I kind of feel like this connection to the Arctic Monkeys that I don’t really feel with any other bands. But lately, that relationship with them is more a approving/ disapproving thing.
‘AM’ was really the testing point of this feeling. At the time yeah, I loved that album, not really knowing why but just going with the flow. ‘R U Mine’ and ‘Do I Wanna Know’ standing out but I couldn’t really remember anything else about the album but I let it slide, just basically glad to hear anything that had guitars and was catchy.
But by the time Marley Park came around, my expectations and reality couldn’t have been further apart. The same songs I had heard on AM were not only forgettable, but they seemed to be worse.
The most bland stuff made up about 60% of the show that day, feeling really underwhelmed, but the adrenaline and euphoria of ‘Crying Lightning’ and ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’ basically carried me through. By the end a great feeling excitement had now dropped to disappointment. Something changed that day.
It’s only now when I hear rumors that they finally might be releasing an album this year, I can honestly say that I’m not looking forward to it. Sure, I’ll listen and trust me I want them to prove me wrong, but I just don’t know.
Since ‘Humbug’ things just haven’t been right. The album (their best btw) showed a side that we probably won’t see again. They heavily rhythmic album was underpinned by a more dark brooding mood. A lot of the songs had more deep meaning to them. Great but dark songs like ‘Cornerstone’ showed a new heightened intelligence that had shown that the band grown since their debut.
However, since then the Arctic Monkeys have been on autopilot. ‘Suck It and See’ was shite, ‘AM’ had some moments but largely forgettable. Something had changed.
This was far away from the cynical smart arses that could make fast, but also at times. extremely catchy music. That basically had a very clever edge to that most of the time doesn’t exist in pop music. They can’t really milk this mellowing thing much longer, or continue to make terrible dance music.
Loads of things have changed since ‘AM’, firstly their audience is going to be totally different. From what I remember at Marley Park and just the whole feel of ‘AM’ was just like a 16 year old girl vibe. That older crowd I’d thought would be there wasn’t really there like I’d thought. So it throws up a scenario of where do Arctic Monkeys, play to their roots or go for this new audience and face tons of competition to achieve attention of an audience that might not even view them as relevant anymore?
There is a side of me that wants them to make a really good album, ala what they used to put out when they were younger but there is another side of me that doesn’t want to get too emotionally invested in case its not only bad, but also forgettable.
So I’m very intrigued/ worried as to what will happen. But more intrigued in the way you see a fast moving bus about to crash and you want to see what you’ll know will happen. Disaster.
Nostalgic Beat 