The Arctic Monkeys--Favourite Worst Nightmare

It really is hard to believe this is only the Arctic Monkey’s second album. With the monumental heaps of hype thrown upon these South Yorkshire boys, I was thoroughly tired of them before even placing Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not in my CD player. However hard NME may push the Arctic Monkeys as some sort of second coming, their music could never live up to the amassed publicity and buzz that preceded it (not to say Whatever People Say I Am was bad, it just fell short of preconceived notions). Now take it one degree further: add in the infamous sophomore-release complex. An unexpected, wildly popular debut is one thing, but backing that up with another fully digestible and well-liked release is tricky work. Did the Arctic Monkeys pull it off?

Yes…with a but, and a warning.

Favourite Worst Nightmare is more explosive than their debut from the word go. “Brainstorm” is a bitterly fast-paced guitar-laced dance-floor hyphen-fest, only pausing to grant Alex Turner and your ears a well-deserved breath before plummeting back into a indie-pop guitar thrashing. Back are tales of dance-floor romances youthful exploits, and (sort-of) farfetched dreams (“The kids all dream of making it / Whatever that means”). Tracks in general feel stronger and more abrasive. “Teddy Picker” has a very definite roller-coaster beat that interlaces much stronger Franz Ferdinand-like dance rhythms into the classic British pop-rock Whatever People Say I Am was riddled with. Yet again too, the songs are loaded to the brim and further with riddling lyrics, overwhelming instrumentals, and a rushing attitude that leaves one out of breath.

After a few introductory tracks, perhaps intending to prove that the Arctic Monkeys have lost none of their pop (of which “D Is For Dangerous” is included, a snappy scathing attack on “Favourite worst nightmares”), the Monkeys move into slower territory with “Fluorescent Adolescent” and the Shins-like “Only One Who Knows.” Just like the increased dance-influence, Favourite Worst Nightmare also includes such allusions to The Shins’ Wincing the Night Away (see “Phantom Limbs) which shows some welcome development in the Arctic Monkeys’ sound. These slower patches are only a bump in the road of guitar-filled thrillers such as “If You Were There, Beware” and “This House Is A Circus,” before ending with the damnably catchy bass of “Old Yellow Bricks.”

Favourite Worst Nightmare sounds enough like Whatever People Say I Am to still be the Arctic Monkeys everyone crooned over, but contains new punches as well—most of which redubs the group as even catchier than before. This could be dangerous, just as their triumphant debut was blasted out of the water with over-hyped praise, so too may this be killed in the minds of many before ever reaching their CD players and iPods. “Brainstorm” and “Old Yellow Bricks” are wonderful tracks to wrap your ears around and hit the dance-floor with—but not if the radio is cranking them 24/7.

The Arctic Monkeys out-do themselves in Favourite Worst Nightmare, will the media?

(Published at ComfortComes.com)