Day 0970 - Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not

Arctic Monkeys “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” (2006)

I remember first encountering Arctic Monkeys via their video for “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” and not being impressed.  From vocalists Alex Turner’s intro “Arctic Monkeys... don’t believe the hype” (it just seemed like a humble brag, like ‘yeah there’s hype around us, but we’re like whatever’) to the throwback 1970s garage-rock style they were playing and the accompanying lo-fi late 70s/early-80s retro look to their Strokes-esque performance video.  It all smacked of effort masquerading as ‘we don’t care’.  

The songs worked their way under my skin though, and the song “Teddy Picker” from their second album really turned my opinion of them around, and I eventually embraced this album.

While it is less diverse than their later releases, and is definitely in that retro, garage-revival vein, with guitar ranging from trebly-and-jangly to distorted-and-raucous; there’s lots to recommend the album.   Whether it’s the propulsive punky energy of “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”, the lazy funky groove of “Fake Tales of San Francisco” or the speedy, tight arrangement and zingy lyrics of “You Probably Couldn’t See for the Lights but You Were Staring Straight at Me”.   Alex Turner would improve in leaps and bounds as a lyricist but "When the Sun Goes Down" was already a great narrative and some good word-smithing.

Day 0462 - Crocodiles

Echo and the Bunnymen "Crocodiles" (1980)

Echo and the Bunnymen: the 80s-ness continues.

I have their album "Ocean Rain" which had a kind of atmospheric, gothic somnambulism to it and I really liked it... however, I'm glad that they sound different here, because variety is the spice of life.

This is much more a dark and jangly album with a definite post-punk  flavour, though still with hints of what their sound would become.