Arctic Monkeys

Trying to catch up with the best music of 2006, I now turn to one of the flavors of the year, the Arctic Monkeys, whose debut album was called Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, which is apparently a reference to the Albert Finney film, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. This is just the first hint to the dichotomy of the band, which is of working-class origins but have a bit of a college-boy impishness.

The first thing that impressed me is the musicianship, as these guys really rock. The guitars drone like chainsaws, and the drumming is also first-rate. It sounds as if it was recorded live, and you can almost smell the urine, beer and stale peanuts from some downtown club where they might play. They are from the outskirts of Sheffield, and the singer has a discernible Yorkshire accent, complete with vernacular known only to the locals (I've learned that "Mardy" means grumpy.)

The songs, for the most part, are hard-driving dance numbers with witty titles, such as "I'll Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor," "Fake Tales from San Francisco," "Red Light Indicates Door is Closed," and "Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But...", which proceeds to label the objects of the singer's wrath as vampires. The song "Mardy Bum" is an amusing ditty about a guy who's pissed off his girlfriend, while "Riot Van" is a melancholy dirge no doubt about an unfortunate encounter with police early one morning.

Perhaps the most socially significant song is "When the Sun Comes Down," which is about prostitution and pimps, with the pimp being repeatedly called a scumbag.

The band, who eschewed a major label, and put a picture of a friend on their cover, seem to shun the spotlight. Will they succumb to the same pressure that bands like The Strokes came under? Time will tell.