Musical Style and Influences
The band's music is known to fall under the umbrella of indie rock although they have changed their genre of rock on each album, which is one of the bands key features. Musically the band have expanded and altered their sound with each of their four albums making it difficult to pin a description to their style. Perhaps the key part of their sound and one that translates across their whole discography is lead singer and frontman Alex Turner's intricate and often rapidly-delivered lyrics, sung in a distinctive strong Yorkshire accent that their music became famed for in their early years. Their early albums Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not and Favourite Worst Nightmare were rooted in garage rock and post-punk revival, with Turner's sharp lyrics the focal point. On the first album Alex Turner examined human behaviour in nightclubs and in the culture of the band's hometown, Sheffield. Turner describes "Dancing Shoes" as being about "people always looking to pull when they go out however much they mask it."
These themes continued on the following album Favourite Worst Nightmare with the band still progressing as musicians. Songs such as "Fluorescent Adolescent" and "Do Me a Favour" explored failed relationships, nostalgia and growing old, while musically the band took up a more uptempo and aggressive sound. Humbug was a wild change in sound as the influence of new producer Josh Homme saw a mostly desert rock and psychedelic rock sound, and Turner's lyrics became more abstract and explored more cryptic themes than the straightforward, witty lines of their first two albums.
Their latest album Suck It and See sees the band exploring different styles, mixing them with newfound maturity. Turner said: "I think the new album is a balance between our first three. There's nothing about taxi ranks or anything like that, but there's a bit of the standpoint I had on those early songs and the sense of humour, but also there's a bit of the 'Humbug' stuff which is kind of off in the corners." Critics noted an influence from vintage British rock bands from the 1960s, as well as The Smiths, and slower, love-themed ballads featured more heavily on the album than the fast-paced, rockier songs that typifies the band's sound.
Read more about this topic: Arctic Monkeys
Famous quotes containing the words musical, style and/or influences:
“Then, bringing me the joy we feel when wee see a work by our favorite painter which differs from any other that we know, or if we are led before a painting of which we have until then only seen a pencil sketch, if a musical piece heard only on the piano appears before us clothed in the colors of the orchestra, my grandfather called me the [hawthorn] hedge at Tansonville, saying, “You who are so fond of hawthorns, look at this pink thorn, isn’t it lovely?””
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“Switzerland is a small, steep country, much more up and down than sideways, and is all stuck over with large brown hotels built on the cuckoo clock style of architecture.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
“I am fooling only myself when I say my mother exists now only in the photograph on my bulletin board or in the outline of my hand or in the armful of memories I still hold tight. She lives on in everything I do. Her presence influenced who I was, and her absence influences who I am. Our lives are shaped as much by those who leave us as they are by those who stay. Loss is our legacy. Insight is our gift. Memory is our guide.”
—Hope Edelman (20th century)