[Album Review] The Arctic Monkeys- Humbug (2009)

The Arctic Monkeys- Humbug

The Arctic Monkeys were always a band that I liked to listen to on occasion. Their previous albums, Whatever People Say I Am and Favorite Worse Nightmare had a certain poppy, swagger, Sheffieldy British charm, with Frontman Alex Turner’s distinct accent and lyrics, and the heavy influence from The Strokes originated Garage/Post Punk revival. These albums have a catchy, often dancible feel to them, and work very solidly on their own grounds, rocketing to popularity from their very first album. In the multiple singles they have from these two albums they demonstrate their ability to compose and perform strongly towards a crowd, even with a little bit harder sound on the latter album. This trend, however, cannot continue forever If a band wants to continue writing music and garnering attention for it. Most bands come to this realization way too late; The Arctic Monkeys, however, have figured this out just in time. In their new album, instead of tiring their sound, they figured out the formula for being unformulaic: Achieve some visibility, then experiment.

“Humbug” is that experimentation. Recording with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and James Ford (Simian), they bring in both a more offbeat, gritty rock mixed with slow, ominous, and dreary electronically enhanced rock. The first track immediately jumps into this turn of pace. ‘My Propeller’ rings heavy, dark, and mesmerizing despite its catchy beat. There is one guitar/ drum riff that itself resembles a propeller spin, spattered with the haunting sounds of a squealing guitar and Alex Turner’s voice. ‘Crying Lightning’, the album’s first single, also carries the same albatross, a little more pop embraceable but with an overdriven feel. These tracks, and more so the whole album is littered with Alex Turner’s deep seeded lyrics that some would describe as nonsensical; but upon deeper listening reveal a humanistic anguish. In reality, he has suffered being relatively written off as a lyricist, accused of ripping lyrics from other great lyricists because its hard to believe one of the greatest lyricists of our generation is so young and seemingly innocent. Hopefully this album garners a fair trial from critics.

The deeper in the album we get, the more we are exposed to the expanding qualities of their technique. ‘Secret Door’ Is, in one sense, a throwback to influences, particularly “The Smiths”, but at the same time the band makes it totally their own. The interchanging of an airy, lullaby croon against a hard, fast spoken, critical tone forces the listener to experience both facets more poignantly. This song and more bluesy, slow songs like ‘Fire and a Thud’ and ‘Cornerstone’ are intertwined with more grinding, exhilarating songs, such as ‘Dangerous Animals’, ‘Potion Approaching”. The album, most certainly, moves at its own pace.

The final three songs set the most grave atmosphere of the entire album. ‘Dance Little Liar’ which, to this reviewer is lyrically the best song on the album, moves in a soul wrenching way that lures us along with its vocals into a drum driven chorus, that all explodes at the end in a violent fit of hopelessness. This segues neatly into the very Gothic, Manson-esque ‘Pretty Visitors’ with its organ-and-chorus backdrop and vividly imaged lyrics. This all culminates into the final, and most experimental song of the album- ‘The Jeweler’s Hand’. This track is what an album finisher was meant to be. It plays with far more instruments and sounds then arguably any other track The Arctic Monkeys have produced to date. Its almost like a carnival (as the first line of the lyrics suggest) until we get to the chorus where it changes pace. It addresses us directly and holds us accountable for our own misfortunes, sinking on our own possessions. The end of the track has a very distinct vocal repetition, which slowly sinks into a background of noise which in itself becomes less and less discernible and instrumental. In both symbolic and musical senses, this is the way to end an album that has had such a a tragic trajectory.

Needless to say, this album is incredibly ambitious. In its own sense, it reminds me a lot of the new album Tonight by Franz Ferdinand in both experimentation, tone, and progression from previous works. The sound is something along the lines of a Post-Punk Death-Disco, where both bands really expand their utilities In a very compelling way. The Arctic Monkeys have come a long way from the guys who had a certain romance with Mardy Bum on the dance floor.

Slàinte,

Jack Rudder

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