Perhaps conformity is a bit strong but...

When Suck It And See first graced the internet in its fully-leaked glory in May, I listened to it three times a day, without fail. It became almost subconscious, this constant looping transition of sounds creating the phonic backdrop of my life throughout my exam period. Even when actually sat in that freezing hall waiting for my wrist to seize up from overwriting, or just the cold, Suck It And See ran incessantly through my head. By the time I received my pre-ordered physical album, I knew every note backwards. I saw Arctic Monkeys at Don Valley Bowl; it was undeniably the best night of my life.

I once read an Alex Turner quote in which he expressed his wishes to be able to write a completely nonsensical song, like Octopus’ Garden. Suck It And See reached these new heights, with obscure and possibly completely insane lyrics such as ‘kung fu fighting on your rollerskates’ making up the majority of lead single Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair. At last, Turner has achieved what he believed to be unachievable, and he is able to talk about it! Moving swiftly away from the shy Sheffield lad who mumbled ‘don’t believe the hype’ into his microphone on debut single I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, Alex has now discovered international fame and the power of audience participation.

I don’t want to come across as some dreadful hipster fan who is determined to disown their favourite band at the first sniff of popularity. I’ll be honest; I used to hate the Arctic Monkeys. As a 10-year-old pop fan in 2005, I found it unimaginable that some unheard-of guitar band with an album seeming to promote smoking (very bad for your health, apparently) could knock my favourite generic autotune victims off the top spot. I fell in love at Humbug, the ‘difficult’ album. I think it provided me with a greater sense of loyalty to a band causing divisions in their existing fanbase.

Then along came Suck It And See. The most accessible record they’ve ever made; played on Radio 1 and in Topshop from the earliest Brick By Brick stages. Suddenly everyone was a Monkeys fan, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There are some true gems on that album, from the opening chords of all-round-British-appeal She’s Thunderstorms, the more haunting All My Own Stunts, the melancholy and contemplative Love Is A Laserquest right through to the nostalgic and general feel-good denouement provided by That’s Where You’re Wrong.

What’s most noticeable about the tracks I’ve just named are that none of them have been released as singles. This may be an advantage as their dull overplaying could easily result in their demise, but it seems that, understandably, Arctic Monkeys have chosen their most accessible tracks to release. As of now, they have released four: Don’t Sit Down, The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala, Suck It And See and Black Treacle. I cannot pretend that I’m not disappointed. In my opinion, three singles is the maximum that should be released from a studio album, for fear of effectively deadening its appeal as an album, killing it off.

And then there are the videos. Brick By Brick depicted a girl smoking next to her record player, and therefore wandered dangerously close to pretentious waters. Don’t Sit Down and Hellcat were flashing lights and scenes of Don Valley which seemed suitably good-natured. Suck It And See introduced the character of Matt Helders clad in denim and leather and tumbling around the American landscape on a motorbike with an incredibly pretty girl. The guns, gangster image and slight shades of S&M were off-putting, personally, but the video went down a storm with the masses, and so Black Treacle’s was shortly released, depicting Helders in prison while a woman wriggles around on a car bonnet and Alex raises his eyebrows nonchalantly and greases his quiff. It’s such a far cry from the piss-take videos of Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, and the transition of the Monkeys into America seems greater with every newly-announced tour.

They’re still my favourite band, and they still make great music, but I can’t help but be saddened by the inevitable that is the Arctic Monkeys’ expansion into something more accessible in order to satisfy international expectation and demand. It was always obvious that there could never be another Whatever People Say: that was a debut album in a lifetime, perfectly portraying the everyday life of four normal lads in that particular place and that particular time with such a grating sense of realism that it was gorgeous. However, the last year seems to have proved that there will also never be another Humbug. As Arctic Monkeys take off into the realms of worldwide popularity (and possible domination?) it may be that those dark depths achieved so shudderingly in the likes of Dance Little Liar may never be reached again.

KLH
(not my own images)