Arctic Monkeys
AM
4 stars
Rock
The slinking and devastating AM, the fifth album from British group Arctic Monkeys, takes the sound of 2011’s Suck It and See and proceeds to soak it in a mixture of whiskey, stale cigarette smoke and self-loathing. What results is its best record since its 2006 debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (which holds the honor of being the UK’s fastest selling debut album ever).
AM is a close relative of Whatever’s tales of excess, but instead, front man and songwriter Alex Turner turns the focus inward to make the tales of failed love and drunken escapades extremely personal.
The sound of the record borrows heavily from Arctic Monkeys’ modern rock contemporaries, namely Queens of the Stone Age (whose leader Josh Homme provides background vocals on AM). Turner has described the record as deriving influence from hip hop, namely Dr. Dre, and it is especially apparent on the standout tracks “Do I Wanna Know?” and “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” Other tracks feature the crawling dancefloor beat of those tracks, giving the record a late night grit that complements Turner’s catchy melodies and whiskey worn British croon.
But even as the record adds complexity to the band’s sound, AM rarely strays from the band’s normal musical palate.
The doo-wop vocals on tracks like “Mad Sounds” and “One For the Road” add a nice touch, but really are not a stretch when you consider B-sides like the band’s cover of the Barbara Lewis track “Baby I’m Yours” from 2006’s “Leave Before the Lights Come On” single.
In short, like its title suggests, AM nails the mood of that awkward gray period between the late night and early morning, when the drunkenness is wearing off and every missed phone call feels like the end of the world.
— James Butler
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