Apparently ‘absolutely banging’ is not a sufficient enough analysis for said product so here’s the lo-down. After milling about in the dessert with that curiously good looking ginger fella’ from QOTSA on their last record, that Sheffield rabble Arctic Monkeys have got back to business for album number four ‘Suck it and See’.
With it’s double entendre title, the latest release from possibly the most important band in British music at the moment has already been censored in the US and it doesn’t even have any proper artwork!
Mind you this never did The Beatles any harm on The White Album, or for that matter Spinal Tap (remember Smell the Glove?).
It’s happy to let it’s music do the talking and although the laugh-out-loud lyrical brilliance of recent Monkey efforts might seem surprisingly absent from this record, listen harder and you will find it is there. It is just hidden slightly deeper this time around.
There is no more word for word perfect story telling and you’re going to have to use your brain to unravel it”s delights.
It may not be the best album in the world, (or even the best Monkeys album) but it’s significant as it’s a definite break from that sound that made them famous.
It’s quite a feat for a band to sound different but still the same, (if that makes sense?) lying somewhere between Psychedelia and late 80’s indie crossed with Bowie and Lou Reed. It’s all still unmistakably Arctic Monkeys and that’s what matters.
‘She’s Thunderstorms’ with it’s mildly love-based complexity is a perfect start and it’s a re-curring theme throughout the album. ‘Black Treacle’ exhibits Turner’s razor sharp writing skills ‘And you talk the talk alright, but do you walk or catch the train?’ the frontman asks.
It’s that un-comprehendible brilliance that makes up most of ‘Suck it and See’ from recent single ‘Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your chair’ to finishing track ‘That’s where your wrong’, Turners lyrics are always deadly on point.
There are many more treasures to be found… ‘Love is a Laserquest’, is a somewhat bitter tale of a past relationship that most people could easily relate too and ‘Library Pictures’, while almost over before it starts, is a riotously raucous number that demands multiple listening (and even the occasional head nod).
Far from being a flash in the pan, after 5 years Arctic Monkeys have now recorded four great albums, a feat bands like Bloc Party or The Killers have still yet to achieve.
The album closes with ‘You’re not the only one time has got it in for’, on this from hopefully the Arctic Monkeys will be around for some time to come.