Arctic Monkeys debut album, Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not was a landmark album, and perhaps the most important debut album of the first decade of the 21st Century, at least in the UK. 2006 was Monkey mania with the four Sheffield boys swung into the spotlight with a number one album and two number one singles, along with frontman Alex Turner being hailed as the voice of a generation. This title gets thrown around very loosely in the music industry, currently The 1975’s Matt Healy has the title for basically doing a lighter version of social commentary that Turner mastered in his teens.
Alex Turner was definitely the voice of my generation: I was 16 when their debut came out and was in awe of all the events of the albums 13 songs being so similar to my own life. I grew up in a different place, but the details were the same. So when it was announced that the band would be releasing their follow-up in 2007, only a year after blazing on to the scene with cheeky smiles that hid their embarrassment about all this fuss, the spotlight only got hotter. No one thought they could release another album of quality songs like their debut, which turned out to be both true and false.
Favourite Worst Nightmare is isn’t anything like the previous album, but it is a powerful, and more mature set of songs that, not only consolidated the bands fearsome reputation, but also showed a maturity that should have way beyond Turner and co at that time.
How the album was different is summed up best by the lead single “Brianstorm”, an absolute powerhouse of a song that chronicles the behaviour of the Brian a weird, life of the party, hanger-on distinguishable by his t-shirt and tie combination. Much like “Fluorescent Adolescent”, “Brianstorm” showcased Turner’s story-telling capabilities being aimed outwards. He was now the narrator to kitchen sink dramas, and crucially, he wasn’t always the star. It’s because of this new outlook that the comparisons to Morrissey and Jarvis Cocker started to make more sense: Turner had the narrative skill to turn a pop song into a short story, taking the skills of “When the Sun Goes Down” and perfecting them.
Even songs staring himself, especially the lovelorn ones were a major step up from the hilarious tale of juvenile love that was “Mardy Bum”. Songs like “Do Me a Favour” and “505” cast Turner as the romantic villain, causing heartbreak in one, and wistful romantic hero in another. It was a long way from “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”.
It’s not just Turner’s album though, as the band’s thin guitar sound got a shot of steroids, and drummer Matt Helder’s sounded like he was drumming with six arms instead of the normal four it usually sounds like. As well as rocking harder, they could also create a sense of atmosphere: “If You Were There Beware” brings to mind a chilling fog covered cityscape, and “Only Ones Who Know “, the band’s first ballad, is a surf pop dream.
The Arctic Monkeys have more popular albums that Favourite Worst Nightmare, their first and their last albums mainly, but without their sophomore effort they wouldn’t be the world beaters they are today, hell they would probably be The La’s.
