Arctic Monkeys

Why "AM"? It's a more than legitimate question that many might ask themselves upon seeing the fifth album by Arctic Monkeys finally adorned with the yellow milestone seal. In truth, the road to this article was a rather troubled one, and there was every chance a different piece could just as easily have been written instead, with the seal placed on the all-face-and-cigarette cover of "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not". Because the Sheffield band's debut remains a peak of their career and one of the most electrifying first albums in the history of rock'n'roll. One might even go so far as to say: one of the most impactful records in the history of English indie rock. Or the band's second album, "Favorite Worst Nightmare", could have been chosen instead — often branded by specialist critics as something of a lesser sibling to its predecessor, but one that, on closer inspection, has actually aged even better in the collective imagination (just think of the enduring success of tracks like "Fluorescent Adolescent" or "505"). Still, one fact remains: "AM" is, to this day, the last great classic of rock. Sure, that might sound like an overstatement, and one could cite artistically valid titles released since, but those would be records belonging to subgenres and niches, not comparable in terms of impact on the wider public to the Arctic Monkeys' fifth album.

How was it possible to achieve such results? It's easy to say in hindsight, but the chart performance of the two preceding chapters, "Humbug" and "Suck It And See", hadn't been all that brilliant when measured against the band's own standards (to be clear, this isn't meant as an aesthetic judgment on those records). With "AM", Arctic Monkeys retained their usual overflowing compositional output and their unmatched knack for writing great songs, but at the same time, aided by trusted producer James Ford, they reworked their sound in two seemingly irreconcilable directions. Turner himself described the sound of "AM" as "Dr. Dre meets Black Sabbath".

It's a spot-on definition, because on "AM" the Monkeys' garage-inflected indie rock dons the weight of hard rock, the languor of blues, but also hip-hop and r&b influences deeply rooted in its own contemporary moment, producing a sound capable of speaking to multiple generations of listeners. Put like that it sounds like a contradiction, but everything becomes crystal clear from the very opening of the opener, "Do I Wanna Know?". The drums enter hypnotic, kick drum dry and dark. The guitar slithers, elastic and sharp, leaving a trail of mystery over everything it touches. Turner first plays the seasoned crooner, then switches to falsetto and, tormented, wonders — deploying a refined vocabulary unfamiliar to most of his contemporaries — whether the object of his desire feels the same emotional pull towards him. It's an entirely new atmosphere for the Arctic Monkeys, night-tinged and sexy in its swagger. But it's a suit that fits them like a glove. The riff is delivered in unison by two guitars with a rough tone and, despite its composite nature, has since become iconic.

It's a highly elaborate riff — it's hard even to say whether it's a single twenty-seven-note riff or a series of small phrases played one after another. Worth noting is the fact that live, Turner plays it while singing over it at the same time: an exercise in coordination that's anything but simple. Voice and guitar never start their respective phrases at the same moment, and neither ever lands on the downbeat. There's tremendous freedom here, but above all, an extraordinary sense of rhythm.

"R U Mine?" was the first single, released back in 2012, more than a year before "AM" came out. You can hear a decisive shift away from the more psychedelic experiments of "Humbug" and the singer-songwriter leanings of "Suck It And See": this is probably the hardest rock track the British band had released up to that point. The energy unleashed by the band channels the anger and frustration born of an uncertain relationship. "Are you mine?", Turner asks, gripped by fear and fury, while guitar, bass and drums set fire to everything like never before.

Once again, the vocal phrasing is notably irregular, with a rhythmic delivery of the lyrics that almost feels like a stream of consciousness, especially in the verses. The most musically interesting element is the lively "duel" between voice and guitar: while the guitar riff's accents all land on the beat, on the strong beats of the bar, the vocal accents fall on the offbeat.

Also worth noting is Matt Helders' outstanding drum arrangement: in the chorus especially, there's almost no fixed rhythmic pattern, with countless fills and passages. It's an approach to drumming that recalls, above all, a figure like Keith Moon.

"One For The Road" further deepens and expands the mix of r&b and indie rock. Particularly noteworthy is the guitar solo, modulated with a phaser effect and technically marked by the use of numerous slides, some fairly risky ones at that: live especially, it's easy to hit the wrong note while sliding your fingers along the fretboard, sometimes over considerable distances. Named after the mythical drink that closes out an evening, it's perhaps the most elegant song of the bunch, with a mysterious gait and a blanket of highly cinematic effects and backing vocals. It's a track that conjures images as you listen to it, thanks to the English band's ability to pair such an evocative sound with Turner's deft words.

"Arabella" is a fine variation on "Do I Wanna Know": where the latter leaned toward a dirtier garage rock sound with fuzz distortion, "Arabella" carries distortion that's just as powerful but far more defined. This is especially clear in its nod to/quotation of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs". What makes this sensual ode to a kind of interstellar muse — a universal embodiment of desire ("Arabella's got some interstellar-gator skin boots") — one of the band's most beloved and instantly recognizable songs is undoubtedly the guitar dynamics running through verses, choruses and solos. In the latter, the guitar explodes and then pounces like a cat, unleashing spins and wild runs. Often an underrated player, Nick O'Malley steals the spotlight here: it's his bass, commanding and all-consuming in the mix, that holds the reins of the track, at least in the verse riff.

“N.1 Party Anthem” and “Mad Sounds” are two ballads that ward off any potential monotony and rework some classic-rock topoi, bringing them into third-millennium indie rock. The first vaguely recalls the chord progression of the Hollies' “The Air That I Breathe”, later echoed in Radiohead's “Creep”, but it quickly breaks free of that, widening its range of harmonic solutions. It's also a song rich in references: alongside those already mentioned, the slightly listless, cocky vocal delivery brings to mind the most seductive ballads of Blur. “Mad Sounds”, on the other hand, echoes Lou Reed (“Pale Blue Eyes”, in particular), though reworked in a highly personal way. Harmonium, velvety bass and hints of tambourine make it the softest, sweetest core of the record, which turns out to be anything but a composite creature made solely of hard-rock bangers.

“Fireside” is perhaps the track where Turner's crooner vocals can best be appreciated: this style, marked by insistent use of vibrato, has been fairly rarely used in recent decades, especially in such a polished form. It's a one-of-a-kind piece within the tracklist: Bowie-esque, singer-songwriter-like, yet without being a genuine ballad. On the contrary, the song is urgent and dramatic, as becomes clear just from listening to the drum arrangement, with its relentless phrasing on the toms. The arrangement of “Fireside” is one of the most elaborate on the record: you can hear acoustic guitar, organ, electric guitars, call-and-response backing vocals, harpsichord, and various other keyboards or studio effects, especially in the final section. It's a hidden gem of the album, ready to disprove anyone claiming that “AM” is a one-note record coasting on the same winning formula, as well as a track that stands in sharp contrast to the songs that open the album, even thematically: where the opening roars of “AM” are dominated by desire, fear, sensuality and nervy guitars, the precious but melancholy arrangements of “Fireside” find Turner speaking of absence, memory and remorse. The song is indeed a kind of stream of consciousness and remembrance, eyes fixed and lost in the fireplace flames that give it its title.

“Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High” is paradigmatic of Turner's songwriting style, one of the most original voices in indie rock and beyond. The vocal always enters off-beat and features sudden slowdowns and accelerations (for instance, on the line: “Incapable of making alright decisions”). In some ways Turner almost comes across here as a rapper rather than a classic rock singer. Indeed, around the vocal, the rhythm section makes explicit the influence of hip-hop classics like Dr. Dre, in terms of production, mixing (the kick drum mixed very far “forward”) and drum patterns.

Although “AM” is an album steeped in American influences and recorded in Los Angeles, it remains, after all, the record of an English band: “Snap Out Of It”, with its jaunty music hall march, is the perfect fusion of alternative r&b and the psychedelic pop season of the English Sixties, with the Kinks leading the charge.

“Knee Socks” stands out harmonically for its use of the Andalusian progression and, above all, for the valuable contribution of Josh Homme of Queens of The Stone Age on vocals. Also remarkable is the way the final section blends Turner's lead vocal, falsetto backing vocals and the special guest, whose versatility is put to use in defiance of whatever one might expect from the stoner icon, and thus entirely in service of building an erotic, sweaty mood.

The case of “I Wanna Be Yours” is a curious one: although it wasn't chosen as a single, it has over time become their most-streamed track on Spotify by far. Based on a text by the Manchester punk poet John Cooper Clarke, it's a very slow ballad, marked by an arrangement of sensual, dark tones: the guitars, for instance, have a spectral, extremely long reverb that makes them sound almost like keyboard pads. It's an effect the Monkeys also achieve, albeit to a lesser degree, on “I Want It All”, where, in keeping with the title, the drive is combative, close to certain stoner hardness — a passion never quite extinguished in the band that had given us the tough “Humbug”.

A phenomenon like “AM” inevitably feeds on more than just music. Think of Arctic Monkeys today, and you inevitably picture them exactly as they dressed around 2013. The musical shift was matched by a transformation in look as well, one that likewise drew closer to the genre's traditional iconography. Indie casual clothes gave way to vintage leather jackets, skinny trousers and, in Turner's case, a slicked-back quiff. It was almost as if the kid from Sheffield had given way to a kind of postmodern mash-up of Elvis Presley and James Dean.

High fashion, for that matter, took notice of the Monkeys at that point too, to the extent that the wardrobe for the 2013/14 tour was curated by Yves Saint Laurent — in the era of super creative director Hedi Slimane. This and other factors, such as the relentless use of social media to spread new content, led the English band's reach to extend well beyond musical borders. Just as the influences the group channeled in creating “AM” were manifold, so too are its disciples, both aesthetic and musical — think of Royal Blood, Nothing But Thieves, the 1975, and even a certain Harry Styles.

Five years after “AM” and, thus, after what was a genuine binge of sales, acclaim and hype, Turner would open “Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino”, the band's sixth album, with this now-famous line: “I just wanted to be one of the Strokes”. It reads, in every sense, like an incredulous reflection on the success of the previous record. As if even Turner himself — who, back when the band was founded, had only wanted to be part of a new, cool indie band — could scarcely believe what he and his bandmates had pulled off a few years earlier.

Not only had Arctic Monkeys doubled the sales of their older New York cousins, truly breaking through in the notoriously resistant United States for the first time, but they had also transcended their status as an indie sensation, becoming, to all intents and purposes, the most acclaimed rock band on the planet. Confirming its central place in the Sheffield band's discography, “AM” today boasts no fewer than eight songs among the top ten most-streamed tracks on the Arctic Monkeys' Spotify page. Among these, “I Wanna Be Yours” and “Do I Wanna Know” have racked up over three billion and over two and a half billion streams respectively. These numbers are only set to grow: this record's hold on listeners' imaginations seems to know no end, as shown by its constant reappearances in major sales charts, in the UK and beyond.

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26/10/2025