Franz Ferdinand, Babyshambles and Kaiser Chief’s are all yesterday’s men with their music finally being kicked into touch as Arctic Monkeys usurps all of them as the hottest ticket in town. The young Monkeys are being compared to the likes of Oasis but are not being dazzled by the bright lights of the heady success they’ve been enjoying - even after a sold out UK tour. If you were lucky enough to download their songs before anyone cared, picked up a demo at one of their early gigs or even got in to a gig to surf those crowds then you’ll know what we are talking about.
During a recent London gig, 2000 people hurled lyrics back at the band and that is after only one official release; ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor’. “Well, it’s pretty similar to what we’ve had in Norwich or wherever,” comments singer/guitarist Alex Turner. “It’s just been like that since back in February, it just gets built up because it’s in London and it’s the biggest one. We’re just playing to a few more people I suppose. There’s always a bit of pressure though, it would be rubbish without it.”
They have just recorded their debut album which, according to guitarist James Cook, all went pretty smoothly. It’s packed with sharp lyrics about small town life, trying to pull girls and swipes about garage rock band clones. There are new tracks on the album as well as the MP3’s that have helped catapult the hotly tipped Sheffield four-piece to internet stardom. “We’ve recorded some new songs, but it’s about half and half, songs you’ll of heard and new songs. We want it to catch the live aspect of us but we don’t want it to be messy, we want it to be powerful, like ‘Defiantly Maybe’. That kinda’ sound.”
It is hard to count the number of bands that are emerging at the moment especially those getting recognised through sites like myspace. Venues are selling out fast with bands that have previously been ignored by conventional media thanks to hardcore fans. “There have been a lot of hyped up bands that are really poor. I just hope when people look at us we live up to our hype,” worries James. “There are a lot of bands that get over-hyped. As well as the bands that don’t get the exposure they deserve. You gotta feel sorry for them.”
Amongst the hype have been the comparisons of the band to Oasis and The Libertines. “It’s kinda strange, but you gotta keep on with what you’re doing,” says Alex. “I mean if that’s who we’re being compared to, there’s worse we can be compared to but I find the Libertines and Babyshambles a bit pretentious; it’s a bit dreamy really”.
Don’t believe the hype? Then check them out for yourselves.
Johnny Nicholson