indie Arctic Monkeys

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Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band from High Green, a suburb of Sheffield. Formed in 2002, the band currently consists of Alex Turner on lead vocals and guitar, Jamie Cook on guitar, Matt Helders on drums and backing vocals and Nick O'Malley on bass guitar, a position formerly held by Andy Nicholson.

Arctic Monkeys achieved chart success with their first single, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. Their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, released on 23 January 2006, was at the time the fastest-selling debut album in British music history, beating Oasis' Definitely Maybe. It remains the fastest-selling debut album for a group. It received critical acclaim, winning both the 2006 Mercury Prize and the 2007 Brit Award for Best British Album. The band's second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, was released on 23 April 2007, sold over 225,000 copies in its debut week, and was nominated for the 2007 Mercury Prize. The group also picked up the award for Best British Album and Best British Group at the Brit awards in 2008.

Arctic Monkeys achieved their success through fan-made demo tapes and online file sharing. They were heralded as one of the first acts to come to the public attention via the Internet, with commentators suggesting they represented the possibility of a change in the way in which new bands are promoted and marketed. The band eventually signed to the independent record label Domino Records.

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Musical style

Lyrics

The lyrics of Arctic Monkeys' singles often feature social realism as typified by "A Certain Romance", which comments on chav and indie culture; and observations of working class life, as typified by "When the Sun Goes Down", described as a "witty, poignant song about prostitution in the Neepsend district of Sheffield", Based on their lyrical style, Arctic Monkeys have been compared to acts such as the British rapper Mike Skinner of The Streets and earlier artists such as Morrissey and Jarvis Cocker, both known for their combination of observational lyrics and humour.

The lead singer, Alex Turner sings in a strong Yorkshire accent, typified by the contraction of "something" to "summat", use of "dun't" (and not "don't") for "doesn't", use of "were" instead of "was", the replacement of "anything" and "nothing" with "owt" and "nowt", and the use of Yorkshire dialect such as "mardy" for "grumpy, difficult, unpredictable". Their songs also include frequent references to popular culture both common and obscure; Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not includes references to Romeo and Juliet (the Shakespeare play is also referenced in the track "Only Ones Who Know" from the Favourite Worst Nightmare album), Roxanne by The Police,and Frank Spencer, from Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, leading one journalist to describe the band as having a "camp retro-futurist fascination" for 1980s popular culture.