Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

by Arctic Monkeys
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

by Arctic Monkeys

Vinyl LP(Long Playing Record)

$27.99 
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Overview

Breathless, hyperbolic praise was piled upon the Arctic Monkeys and their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, an instant phenomenon without peer. Within the course of a year, the band rose from the ranks of an Internet phenomenon to the biggest band in the U.K., all on the strength of early demos circulated on the web as MP3s. Those demos built the band a rabid fan base before the Monkeys had released a record, even before they played more than a handful of gigs. In effect, the group performed a complete run around the industry, avoiding conventional routes toward stardom, which paid off in spades. When Whatever People Say I Am hit the streets in January 2006, it sold a gob-smacking 118,501 copies within its first week of release, which not only made it the fastest-selling U.K. debut ever, but sold more than the rest of the Top 20 combined -- a remarkable achievement by any measure. Last time such excitement surrounded a new British guitar band it was a decade earlier, as Brit-pop hit overdrive with the release of Oasis' 1994 debut, Definitely Maybe. All four members of the Arctic Monkeys were a little bit shy of their tenth birthday at the time, a bit young to be sure, but old enough to have Oasis be their first favorite band. So, it's little surprise that the Gallaghers' laddism -- celebrating nights out fueled by lager and loud guitars -- is the bedrock foundation of the Arctic Monkeys, just the way as it has been for most British rock bands since the mid-'90s. Their true ground zero though, is 2001, the year the Strokes stormed British consciousness with their debut, Is This It. The Arctic Monkeys borrow heavily from the Strokes' stylized ennui, adding an equal element of the Libertines' shambolic neo-classicist punk, undercut by a hint of dance-punk learned from Franz Ferdinand. But where the Strokes, the Libertines, and Franz all knowingly reference the past, this Sheffield quartet is only concerned with the now, piecing together elements of their favorite bands as lead singer/songwriter Alex Turner tells stories from their lives, mainly hookups on the dancefloor and underage drinking, balanced by the occasional imagined tragic tales of prostitution and the music industry. Whatever People Say I Am captures the band mashing up the Strokes and the Libertines at will, jamming too many angular riffs into too short a space, tearing through the songs as quickly as possible. But where the Strokes camouflaged their songwriting skills with a laconic, take-it-or-leave-it sexiness, and where the Libertines mythologized England with a junkie poeticism, the Arctic Monkeys at their heart are simple, everyday lads, lacking any sense of sex appeal or romanticism, or even the desire for either. Nor do they harbor much menace, either in their tightly wound music or in how Turner spits out his words. Also, the dry production, sounding for all the world like an homage to Is This It -- all clanking guitars and clattering drums, with most of the energy coming from the group's sloppy call-and-response backing vocals -- keeps things ever immediate. In a way, Whatever People Say I Am is an ideal album for the age of Information Overload: nearly every track here is stuffed with riffs and words, and just when it's about to sort itself out, it stops short. Instead of relying on a digital cut-and-paste clamor, lead singer and lyricist Alex Turner is a natural storyteller, chronicling a very specific time and place. Like Weller or Ian Dury before him, he's captured his era in stark, vivid terms; he may not transcend his time, but he embodies it fully. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date: 02/21/2006
Label: Domino
UPC: 0801390008610
Rank: 3363

Tracks

  1. The View from the Afternoon
  2. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
  3. Fake Tales of San Francisco
  4. Dancing Shoes
  5. You Probably Couldn't See for the Lights But You Were Staring Straight at Me
  6. Still Take You Home
  7. Riot Van
  8. Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured
  9. Mardy Bum
  10. Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But...
  11. When the Sun Goes Down
  12. From the Ritz to the Rubble
  13. A Certain Romance

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Arctic Monkeys   Primary Artist
Matt Helders   Drums,Percussion,Vocals (Background)
Andy Nicholson   Guitar (Bass),Vocals (Background)
Jamie Cook   Guitar,Lead Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm),Vocals (Background)
Alex Turner   Guitar,Vocals,Percussion,Lead Guitar,Lead Vocals,Guitar (Rhythm),Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Alan Smyth   Audio Production,Engineer,Producer
Jim Abbiss   Audio Engineer,Audio Production,Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Ewan Davies   Audio Engineer,Engineer
Arctic Monkeys   Composer
Alex Turner   Composer
Juno Liverpool   Design
Alexandra Wolkowicz   Cover Photo,Photography
Owen Skinner   Mixing Assistant
Andy Brown   Photography
Andreas Bayr   Engineer
Barny Barnicott   Mixing
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