Suck It and See
Domino
****
Behind every great act lurks a humbling start, but that of the Arctic Monkeys was more inauspicious than most. When they played their debut gig at the Sheffield venue The Grapes on Friday, June 13, 2003, only the proverbial two men and a dog showed.
In 2010, their impish front man Alex Turner told Mojo magazine that his vocals on the group's early demos had an embarrassing American twang, but by 2005's cheeky UK chart-topper I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, he had reverted to the reassuringly "authentic" accent of his native Yorkshire.
Turner's lyrics were as arch as those of Morrissey, and his bandmates - gifted indie kids wise to The Strokes, The Libertines and The Clash - knew exactly how to service his material. Word spread, and in 2006 the Monkeys scooped the Mercury Music Prize with their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.
If 2007's Favourite Worst Nightmare held form, 2009's Humbug was a darker, somewhat wild-card release. Holed up with Queens of The Stone Age linchpin Josh Homme at Rancho de la Luna studios in the Californian desert, the group took up shooting, embraced abstraction and became unlikely heavy-riffers. Youth and young manhood clearly required a change of tack, but reviews were mixed. It wasn't that Homme's talent as a producer had been called into question - he simply wasn't the best fit for the Monkeys' music.
Accordingly, Suck It and See takes a step back to go forward. The band's tried and trusted producer James Ford is back in the swivel chair, and the 12, mostly major- key, songs on offer have a brighter, wittier countenance than those on Humbug.
"We wanted it to sound quite fun and up, not too serious," says Turner of the new record, but that's as revealing as the accompanying press release gets. One of the most curious things about Turner is the seeming discrepancy between his articulacy as a lyricist and the fairly bland interviews he tends to give.
Fortunately, the music on Suck It and See speaks volumes about the Monkeys' still-burgeoning talent.
There's an immediacy and supreme confidence about the record that draws you in, acknowledged influences such as The Velvet Underground and Echo & The Bunnymen audible, but always pressed into the service of a knowing, sharp-elbowed indie that's unmistakably Arctic.
Jamie Cook's incisive bursts of lead guitar on Black Treacle energise like a defibrillator blast, while Love Is a Laserquest, flagging up the quaintly retro leisure activity of the same name, is a fine, foggy ballad wherein Turner wonders if an old acquaintance still sees love as a game.
Random pin-drops on the lyric sheet would be likely to prick memorable couplets, and Turner - singing a little lower these days and cannier about finding just the right key - has rarely sounded more commanding than he does on She's Thunderstorms and All My Own Stunts. As its title suggests, Suck It and See is well worth a sampling.
