Arctic Monkeys - Suck it and See

  by Sarah Maybank

published: 8 / 7 / 2011

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It was never a safe bet what the Arctics' next move would be after releasing 'Humbug'. Airless, dark and murky as a teenager's bedroom, the lights-off, curtains-drawn introspection of 'Humbug' successfully sheared the band of its lagged-up You Look Good... fan contingent. Freed of a chunk of their mainstream audience - and its expectations - they could have lurched off in any direction, but instead they crashed smack-bang into the Last Shadow Puppets. Alex Turner's 2008 bit-on-the-side project with Miles Kane was a love letter to chiming 60s pop and crooners such as the Walker Brothers, and so, for the most part, is #Suck It and See'. The retro sound and classic pop hooks of songs like 'Reckless Serenade' and 'Love Is A Laserquest' form the spine of the album, although the twangy, Duane Eddyish 'Don't Sit Down Cause I'll Move Your Chair', heads-down rocker 'Brick By Brick' and flamenco inflections of 'All My Own Stunts' ensure it backs away from being a pure pastiche. Lyrically, Turner has ditched the spit and sarcasm for the most part and morphed into a lovelorn crooner ("Be cruel to me/cause I'm a fool for you", anyone?), and because of this, the feeling remains that his time machine was set for somewhere around England’s only World Cup victory when he wrote the bulk of the album. Back in 2006, when you were bawling ‘Who’s that scummy man…?’ along with your mates at your local indie night, did you ever think you'd be picturing Alex Turner in a half-undone bow tie, coming over all late-era Sinatra? Exactly - so yes, Arctic Monkeys can still trip us up. But overall, 'Suck It and See' is a bit Aston Villa – perfectly respectable, but hovering around mid-table rather than pumping its fist at the top of the Premiership.

Track Listing:-

1 She's Thunderstorms
2 Black Treacle
3 Brick By Brick
4 The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala
5 Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair
6 Library Pictures
7 All My Own Stunts
8 Reckless Serenade
9 Piledriver Waltz
10 Love Is A Laserquest
11 Suck It And See
12 That's Where You're Wrong

Band Links:-

http://www.arcticmonkeys.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ArcticMonkeys
https://twitter.com/arcticmonkeys

Label Links:-

http://www.dominorecordco.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DominoRecordCo
https://twitter.com/DominoRecordCo
https://www.youtube.com/user/DominoRecords
https://plus.google.com/+DominoRecords

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