   #copyright

Arctic Monkeys

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Performers and composers

   Arctic Monkeys logo The Legends
   Arctic Monkeys, left to right: Alex Turner, Jamie Cook, Matt Helders
   and Nick O'Malley
   Arctic Monkeys, left to right: Alex Turner, Jamie Cook, Matt Helders
   and Nick O'Malley
   Background information
   Origin Sheffield, England
   Genre(s) Indie rock, Post-punk revival
   Years active 2002–present
   Label(s) Domino Records
   Publishing labels:
   UK/US: Domino
   AUS/NZ: EMI
   Japan: Hostess
   Website Official website
   Members
   Alex Turner
   Jamie Cook
   Matt Helders
   Nick O'Malley
   Former members
   Andy Nicholson
   Glyn Jones, Daniel Hirst(he wishes)

   Arctic Monkeys are a four-piece indie rock/ post-punk revival band from
   High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, England. Their first two singles, "
   I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and " When the Sun Goes Down",
   both went straight to number one in the UK Singles Chart. Originally
   established in 2002, the band currently consists of Alex Turner on lead
   vocals and guitar, Jamie Cook on rhythm guitar, Matt Helders on drums
   and backing vocals and Nick O'Malley on bass guitar, a position
   formerly held by Andy Nicholson.

   Unlike many of their contemporaries, who were marketed and advertised
   extensively by record labels, Arctic Monkeys achieved their success
   through fan-made demo tapes and online file-sharing, culminating in
   fans singing along at gigs of songs which had never been officially
   released, leading media commentators to discuss the possibility of a
   sea change in the way in which new bands are promoted and marketed. The
   band resisted signing to a major record label, even banning talent
   scouts from gigs. Eventually, the band signed to independent record
   label Domino Records, releasing their debut album Whatever People Say I
   Am, That's What I'm Not, which debuted straight at number one and broke
   the record for the largest first week sales of a debut album in UK
   history. The band subsequently won several major music prizes for the
   album, including the 2006 Mercury Prize, "Best New Act" at the 2006
   Brit Awards and "Best New Band" and "Best British Band" at the NME
   Awards.

   The overnight success of the band and the gritty, realistic nature of
   the lyrics of songs such as "When The Sun Goes Down" has led to the
   band being described as the "yardstick for all that is current and
   cool". Despite such recognition, the band remains notoriously media
   shy; they declined to appear on either Top of the Pops or CD:UK after
   "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" reached number one, while
   journalists described their behaviour during a press conference
   following winning the Mercury Prize as "petulant" and "argumentative".

Musical style

   Arctic Monkeys are generally considered part of the indie rock scene
   alongside similar contemporary guitar bands such as The Libertines, The
   Futureheads and Franz Ferdinand. The lyrics of Arctic Monkeys songs
   often feature social realism and observations of working class life, as
   typified by "When The Sun Goes Down", described as a "witty, poignant
   song about prostitution in the Neepsend district of Sheffield", and "A
   Certain Romance", an attack on chav culture, which have led to
   comparisons with other acts, especially British rapper The Streets and
   older artists Morrissey and Jarvis Cocker, both of which are known for
   their combination of observational lyrics and humour.

   The lead singer, Alex Turner, sings in a strong Yorkshire accent,
   typified by the contraction of "something" to "summat", the replacement
   of "everything" and "nothing" with "owt" (/aʊt/) and "nowt" (/naʊt/)
   and the use of Northern slang such as "mardy" for "grumpy, difficult,
   unpredictable". Their songs also include frequent references to popular
   culture both common and obscure; Whatever People Say I Am, That's What
   I'm Not includes references to Romeo and Juliet, " Rio" by Duran Duran,
   and Frank Spencer, from Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, leading one
   journalist to describe than the band as having a " camp retro-futurist
   fascination" for 1980s popular culture.

History

Emergence: 2002 — 2005

   In 2001, neighbours Alex Turner and Jamie Cook asked for instruments as
   a Christmas present and both received electric guitars. After teaching
   themselves to play, the pair formed a band with Turner's school friends
   Andy Nicholson and Matt Helders later in 2002. Nicholson already played
   bass, so Matt Helders ended up on drums — "that was all that were
   left...they all had guitars so I bought a drum kit after a bit."
   Although reports suggested they named themselves after Helders' uncle's
   (or even father's) band, Helders later admitted that these reports were
   untrue — "We made that up ‘cause we got so many people asking us that
   in the UK, so we just started making stories up", and that he just
   didn't have the heart to tell the original reporter he'd been lying.
   According to Helders, Jamie Cook came up with the name at school before
   the band existed, saying "He just always wanted to be in a band called
   Arctic Monkeys. Which is a cool name."

   They began rehearsing at Yellow Arch Studios in Neepsend, and their
   first gig came on 13 June 2003 at The Grapes in Sheffield city-centre.
   After a few performances, they began to record demos and burn them onto
   CDs to give away at gigs. With a limited number of CDs available, fans
   began to rip the music back onto their computers and share it amongst
   themselves. The group did not mind, saying "we never made those demos
   to make money or anything. We were giving them away free anyway — that
   was a better way for people to hear them. And it made the gigs better,
   because people knew the words and came and sang along." They themselves
   took no responsibility for their music, admitting that they did not
   even know how to get their songs onto the Internet. When asked about
   the popularity of the band's MySpace site in an interview with Prefix
   Magazine, the band pointed out that they did not even know what MySpace
   was, and that the site had originally been created by their fans.
   "[When we went number one in England] we were on the news and radio
   about how MySpace has helped us. But that's just the perfect example of
   someone who doesn’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. We
   actually had no idea what it was."

   In late 2004, they began to grow in popularity across the north of
   England, receiving attention from BBC Radio 1 and the British tabloid
   press. Mark Bull, a local amateur photographer, filmed the band's
   performances and made the music video to " Fake Tales of San
   Francisco", releasing it on his web-site, alongside the contents of
   Beneath the Boardwalk — a collection of the band's songs which he named
   after a local music venue.

   In May 2005, Arctic Monkeys released their first EP, Five Minutes with
   Arctic Monkeys, featuring the songs "Fake Tales of San Francisco" and
   "From the Ritz to the Rubble". This release was limited to 1500 CDs and
   2000 7" records, but was also available to download from the iTunes
   Music Store. Soon after, the band played at the Carling Stage of the
   Reading and Leeds Festivals, reserved for less known or unsigned bands.
   Their appearance was hyped by much of the music press and the band was
   received by an unusually large crowd for the billing they played. The
   critically acclaimed performance included spontaneous singalongs of
   tracks that were only available as demos on the Internet.

Record deals: Mid 2005

   The band resisted signing to a record label, refusing to change their
   songs to suit the industry — "Before the hysteria started, the labels
   would say, 'I like you, but I'm not sure about this bit, and that song
   could do with this changing...' We never listened." Their cynicism with
   the industry was such that record company scouts were refused
   guaranteed guest list entry for their gigs. The success of the strategy
   — "We've got this far without them — why should we let them in?" — was
   illustrated with a series of sell-out gigs across the UK. October 2005
   saw them sell out the historic London Astoria, and Turner saw this as
   proof that they were justified to ignore the record companies, saying
   "Once it all kicked off, we didn't care anymore. In London, the kids
   were watching the band, and the record company were at the back
   watching the kids watching the band."

   Eventually, they signed to Domino Records in June 2005. The temptation
   of money saw them almost sign for an undisclosed "other label", but the
   band were attracted by Domino owner Laurence Bell, who ran the label
   from his flat and only signed bands that he liked personally. The UK's
   Daily Star tabloid newspaper reported that this was followed in October
   2005 by a £1m publishing deal with EMI and a £725,000 contract with
   Epic for the United States. Arctic Monkeys denied this on their
   website, dubbing the newspaper "The Daily Stir". However, Domino have
   licensed the Australian and New Zealand publishing rights to EMI and
   the Japanese rights to independent label Hostess.

Initial releases: October 2005 — January 2006

   Their first single after signing to Domino Records, " I Bet You Look
   Good on the Dancefloor", was released on 17 October 2005 and went
   straight to #1 on the UK Singles Chart, selling 38,962 copies and
   beating McFly and Robbie Williams in the process. Three days later,
   they made their first appearance on the cover of NME. Their second
   single, " When the Sun Goes Down" (previously titled "Scummy"), was
   released on 16 January 2006 and also went straight to #1 on the UK
   Singles Chart, selling 38,922 copies and dethroning Shayne Ward. The
   band's success in reaching the #1 spot without marketing or advertising
   led some to suggest that it could signal a change in how new bands
   achieve recognition.

   They finished recording their debut album at Chapel Studios in
   Lincolnshire during September 2005. Its name was confirmed as Whatever
   People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not in early December, with release
   originally intended for 30 January 2006. Although early versions of
   many tracks were already freely available to download from the band's
   pre-label demo CDs, it was widely expected to be one of the biggest
   releases of 2006 with thousands of copies pre-ordered. On 5 January
   2006, Domino announced the album's release would be brought forward one
   week to the 23 January claiming that this was "due to high demand".
   While the same thing was done with the release of Franz Ferdinand,
   there has been continued speculation that the move came as a result of
   the album's leak and the impact of file sharing — a controversial
   suggestion given the part file-sharing played in establishing the
   band's fanbase.

   Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not became the fastest
   selling debut album in UK chart history, selling 363,735 copies in the
   first week. This smashed the previous record of 306,631 copies held by
   Hear’Say with their debut Popstars, and sold more copies on its first
   day alone — 118,501 — than the rest of the Top 20 albums combined.

   The record was released a month later in the United States and sold
   34,000 units in its first week, making it the second fastest selling
   for a debut indie album in America and debuting at #24 on the Billboard
   album chart. US critics were more reserved about the band than their UK
   counterparts, and appeared unwilling to be drawn into the possibility
   of "yet another example of the UK's press over-hyping new bands".
   However, the band's June 2006 tour of North America received critical
   acclaim at each stop — the hype surrounding them "proven to exist for
   good reason".

Nicholson departure; Mercury Prize: April — September 2006

   In a similar fashion to bands such as Oasis and The Smiths, Arctic
   Monkeys wasted no time in recording new material, and released a
   5-track EP on 24 April 2006, entitled Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys,
   and was seen by critics as a swipe back at the snowballing hype
   surrounding the band. Due to its length, the EP was ineligible to chart
   as a UK single or album. Furthermore, the record's bad language has
   resulted in significantly less radio airplay than previous records,
   although this was not a reported concern — "since they made their name
   on the internet — and that got them a No.1 single and album — they
   don't care if they don't get radio play".

   However, soon after the release of the EP in the UK, the band announced
   that bassist Andy Nicholson would not take part in the band's
   forthcoming North America tour due to "fatigue following an intensive
   period of touring". Upon their return to the UK, it was confirmed on
   the band's official website that Nicholson had indeed left the band.
   The statement, "We are sad to tell everyone that Andy is no longer with
   the band", also confirmed that Nick O'Malley — former bassist with
   Arctic Monkeys' fellow Sheffield band, The Dodgems, who had drafted in
   as temporary bassist for the tour — would continue as bassist for the
   rest of their summer tour schedule. Shortly after, Nick O'Malley was
   confirmed as a full-time member and bassist of the band.

   Arctic Monkeys first release without Nicholson, the single " Leave
   Before the Lights Come On", came on 14 August 2006. Turner suggested
   that "it feels very much like it could be on the album", and that the
   song was one of the last songs he wrote before their rise to fame.
   Although reaching #4 in the UK, the single became the band's first
   failure to reach #1 — leading to Turner referring to it as "the black
   sheep of the family" at the band's performance at the 2006 Reading
   Festival. The band were re-united at the Leeds Festival when Nicholson
   met up with his former band mates and his replacement bassist O'Malley;
   however only the original band members, minus Nicholson, were present
   at the award ceremony when Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm
   Not won the 2006 Mercury Prize two weeks later.

New album

   The band have revealed that they are well on their way to recording
   their second full album, having already penned at least 10 tracks. They
   have been writing new material since May 2005, and have stated their
   reluctance to "live off old records" for a long period of time. Jamie
   Cook suggested that their new album was to be recorded in August 2006,
   adding "I couldn’t see us being like Coldplay... You tour your album
   for three years and play the same fucking gig night after night... Some
   people might enjoy doing that, but we couldn’t."

Criticism and controversy

   The band have received criticism, based largely around the media circus
   that has surrounded their rise. Critics described them as one in a long
   line of largely overhyped " NME bands", while the release of the EP Who
   the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys just three months after their
   record-breaking debut album has been criticised by some, who have seen
   it as " money-grabbing" and "cashing in on their success". However, the
   band countered that they regularly release new music not to make money,
   but to avoid the "boredom" of "spending three years touring on one
   album".

   The cover sleeve of Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not,
   showing Chris McClure, a friend of the band, smoking a cigarette, was
   criticised by the head of the NHS in Scotland for "reinforcing the idea
   that smoking is OK". The band's product manager denied the accusation,
   and in fact suggested the opposite — "You can see from the image
   smoking is not doing him the world of good".

Television appearances

   October 2005 saw the group's only UK television appearances, performing
   on Popworld ( 15 October), E4 Music and Later with Jools Holland ( 28
   October). Since these appearances, however, the band became notorious
   for refusing to play on any further TV shows. They have repeatedly
   turned down offers to play on the BBC's long running chart show, Top of
   the Pops, as well as ITV's CD:UK. The first footage of the band's gigs
   was broadcast on MTV2's Gonzo on Tour on 12 November 2005, featuring
   footage from a recent gig in Liverpool.

   The band's refusal to attend the 2006 Brit Awards was originally seen
   as another snub to television, although a statement explained that it
   was in fact due to their prior commitments on the NME Awards tour. In
   their recorded acceptance speech for Best British Breakthrough Act, the
   band gained a "mystery fifth member" who did all the talking. Known for
   being camera-shy, it turned out that the band had recruited We Are
   Scientists frontman Keith Murray, a friend of the band, to accept the
   award for them, to just "confuse the audience".

   Despite their hostility to appearances on UK television, the band made
   their biggest TV appearance when they appeared on Saturday Night Live
   on 11 March 2006 to kick off their sold-out US tour. The performance
   included the songs "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "A
   Certain Romance", and saw the word " ASBO" printed on the bass drum.
   However, just before the guitar solo of "A Certain Romance", Turner
   castigated a yawning audience member, and Cook tossed his guitar at an
   amp at the end of the song.

In popular culture

   The popularity of the Arctic Monkeys in the UK, especially among young
   people, has led to politicians and journalists referencing the band in
   speeches and texts; Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown stated in
   an interview with New Woman magazine that he listened to them every
   day, claiming "[they] really wake you up in the morning", although in a
   later interview was unable to name any of their songs. He went on to
   reference this in his speech at the 2006 Labour Party Conference about
   the risk of global warming, joking that he was "more interested in the
   future of the Arctic Circle than the future of the Arctic Monkeys".
   Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell also referred to the band at
   the 2006 Liberal Democrats Party Conference, mistakenly claiming that
   they had sold more records than The Beatles, a comment which led to
   much derision from the media.

   The Sun newspaper claimed that Liverpool footballer Peter Crouch's goal
   celebration, a variation on the robot dance, was based on "dancing to
   electropop like a robot from 1984", a lyric from "I Bet You Look Good
   On The Dancefloor", quoting an insider as saying "He's a massive Arctic
   Monkeys fan. Believe me, he can't sing — so the dance is the next best
   thing".

Discography

Albums

   Date of Release Title Label Chart peaks
   23 January 2006 Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Domino
   Records #1 ( UK, AUS, IRE); #9 (JPN); #24 ( US)

EPs

Date of Release              Title                     Label       Chart peaks
30 May 2005     Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys Bang Bang Records

                                                                                                     N/A

24 April 2006   Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys  Domino Records    #36 ( UK
                                                                   (download))

Singles

   Date of Release Title Album Chart peaks
   17 October 2005 " I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" Whatever
   People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not #1 ( UK);#12( IRE); #14 ( NZ); #18
   ( AUS)
   16 January 2006 " When the Sun Goes Down" Whatever People Say I Am,
   That's What I'm Not #1 (UK); #26 (AUS)
   14 August 2006 " Leave Before the Lights Come On"

                                     N/A

   #4 (UK)
   TBA " Fake Tales of San Francisco" Whatever People Say I Am, That's
   What I'm Not Unreleased

Compilations

          Date of Release                    Title         Label Chart peaks

                                  N/A

                                     Beneath the Boardwalk

                                                                                             N/A

                                                                 N/A

Films

 Date of Release   Title     Distributor   Chart peaks
 10 April 2006   Scummy Man Domino Records

                                                                             N/A

Awards and achievements

Band

     * 2005 Muso Awards — Best New Act — November 2005
     * 2006 Brit Awards — Best British Breakthrough Act — February 2006
     * 2006 NME Awards — Best New Band, Best British Band — February 2006
     * 2006 ESKY Music Awards [from Esquire] — Most Promising Phenoms —
       April 2006
     * 2006 Zlatna Koogla Awards [Croatia] — Best New International Act —
       April 2006
     * Oye Awards [Mexico] - Best New International Artist - October 2006
     * Q Awards - People's Choice - October 2006

Records

     * " I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor":
          + 2006 NME Awards — Best Track — February 2006

     * Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not:
          + fastest selling debut album in UK chart history.
          + NME — 5th greatest British album — January 2006
          + 2006 Mercury Prize — Album of the Year — September 2006
          + Q Awards - Best Album - October 2006

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