1. View from the Afternoon

2. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor

3. Fake Tales of San Francisco

4. Dancing Shoes

5. You Probably Couldn’t See for the Lights But You Were Staring Straight at Me

6. Still Take You Home

7. Riot Van

8. Red Light Indicates Doors are Secured

9. Mardy Bum

10. Perhaps Vampires is a Bit Strong But...

11. When the Sun Goes Down

12. From the Ritz to the Rubble

13. Certain Romance
     

When the Artic Monkeys recorded their debut album. Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, they can’t have known what hype would eventually surround either them or it. But, irrespective of the wild and sometimes exaggerated praise this recording has received, it is a very fine album.

Not since the hey-day of punk in the late ’70s have we heard such contrived looseness of sound and complete disdain for the more subtle effects of arrangement and recording production. This is true lo-fi. But whereas the Arctic Monkeys bear much resemblance, sonically speaking, to the Clash, circa London Calling, they have an entirely different lyrical approach. Songs about hanging out with friends in unromantic places, falling out with the local constabulary, hankering after one of the girls from school, and exclaiming the advantages of Rotherham over San Francisco, are the very essence of the best English pop songs from the past 40 years. The crashing guitars may sound like the Clash, but the lyrics could have come from Steve Marriott or Ray Davies.

Whatever the over-exuberant press makes of the Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Sa I Am is a very fine album which should be in the collection of all those who revel in the best English pop.

©  Straight Words, 2006